All's Fair in Love and War
by Silverhair Theory
Summary: When the Gryffindors and Slytherins get forced to spend two weeks in muggle territory together, without magic, sparks are bound to fly. HGDM DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **All's Fair in Love and War

**Author:** Silverhair Theory

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. If you sue me, all you'll get is my sweet stash and my teddy bear, and he bites. I wouldn't advise it.

**Chapter 1**

It was the morning after the night of arrival at Hogwarts, and as the sun rose outside the windows of the Gryffindor Seventh Year Girls dorm, Hermione appeared to be the only one up. There were no noises from the common room and no footsteps on the stairs. All around her sleeping girls breathed softly. She had been right, no-one else was awake yet.

She sighed, and reached for the book she had been pursuing the previous evening. It was called _"Witches and Wizards, a Relationship Guide" _and although it wasn't her usual material, she had felt it was somewhat required.

Over the summer she had been thinking about her relationship with Harry Potter and she there had been something bothering her all holiday. She didn't want to trouble Ginny with it as she knew Ginny had a few issues about her and Harry Potter together. Doubtless Lavender and Parvati, resident beauty queens and all out girly girls would know exactly what to do, but she didn't want it spread around that she was having problems, and those two were the worst gossipers in Gryffindor. So she had finally turned, in near desperation, to the only things which she knew wouldn't tell on her and had no problems with her relationship at all; books.

She simply wished she could have some way to have seen him before the train journey. Near the end of the holidays she had received an owl from Ginny Weasley about him, as he had been staying at the Burrow at the time, but she had not mentioned whether he had talked of their relationship with Hermione at all, probably because Harry knew as well as herself that Ginny wasn't best pleased with their relationship.

Hermione knew it was immature, but the thing was, she had wondered if their love could stand the test of distance. She had told herself that she was only being paranoid - but she really worried about her relationship with Harry. He was the great Harry Potter and she was just a clever girl who had bushy hair and orange cat hairs all over her robes. She really felt like she needed some pointers and reassurances, and had decided to read up on background information just in case.

Although, Hermione scolded herself, love wasn't a thing that you could become an expert in through reading, because according to this book, true love was different for every person. She really had to get her mindset correct, even more so today because he was going to be there at breakfast and was going to want to talk to her. At least, she hoped he would. What if something was up with their relationship? What if something had happened over the holidays?

_Stop it. You'll only make yourself feel worse. Anyway, _Hermione chided herself mentally, _you'll see him at breakfast, won't you, and you can tell then if something's wrong._

Just in case though, she turned back to her book. She had nothing else to do until breakfast, in any case.

SGSGSGS

Draco Malfoy was _not _a morning person.

He was moody and sarcastic and the other boys in the dormitory had learnt to keep well away from him until after a good cup of strong black coffee. Add to that the fact that as a "Welcome to Seventh year" celebration all of the boys in his dorm had all been up very late drinking Oggden's Old Firewhisky, with a few additions, of course, added by none other than Draco himself, potions expert that he was.

Oh, and he had a head-splitting hangover.

"Oh bugger." He declared sullenly "My head hurts!"

Had there been anyone around to hear this, they might have felt sorry for him. However, considering how if they had heard it, they would have had to have been there, and if they had been there, they would have seen the mess of bottles scattered round the whole room like litter, ranging from empty to hardly touched, maybe they wouldn't have felt sorry after all.

As Draco's eyesight gradually straightened he sat up, and glanced at the debris of the night before, groaning. Then he tried to get up and promptly fell off the bed, with the blankets tangled round him in a heap.

"Ooof." He exclaimed, followed rather promptly with an "Ouch." as he realised that he had sat, rather heavily, on a half full bottle of Firewhisky, and now had brownish stains on his pajama bottoms, and also, surprisingly, on his skin.

"Must have been those powdered fwooper feathers I put in. I _knew_ they looked out of date..." He muttered to himself as he got to his feet, getting more stains on his soles.

Regaining what little Malfoy composure could be gathered when the world seemed to be violently disagreeing with him, Draco stumbled over to the door of the bathroom, and proceeded to wash away the mess with a long, cold shower.

SGSGSGS

Breakfast on the First day of the school term was always a noisy one. On the previous evening, many students were too tired from the long journey to school on the Hogwarts express, and the first years were always exhausted from the ride across the lake, so much of the catching up and gossiping from the summer was often left until the next morning when all and sundry was discussed over a piece of toast and a goblet of pumpkin juice.

At their places near the head of the Gryffindor table, Ginny, Ron and Hermione filled Harry in on what had happened in the wizarding gossip channels over the summer. Ginny and Ron were explaining about Bill's emotional break up with Fleur Delacour, the pretty Triwizard champion from Beauxbatons, when Hermione nudged Harry and they watched Professor McGonagall enter the great hall and hurry over to Dumbledore to whisper something in his ear.

Dumbldore nodded and waited for McGonagall to leave the room again before tapping clearly on his glass. The sound rang through the whole room and all faces turned to the High Table.

Dumbledore cleared his throat "I have an announcement to make" He said, "Hogwarts school has decided to host an exchange program with Beauxbatons, as a declaration of unity and friendship. Four of our own students were notified during the Holidays, two boys and two girls, from sixth and seventh year. That is the reason, if any of you were wondering, we are missing four of our company..."

He paused, as a smattering of giggles and exited chatter burst out among a group of sixth year girls on the Hufflepuff table, who were silenced under his icy blue gaze "...and that is why we will also be joined shortly by four students from Beauxbatons, who, I have just been notified by Professor McGonagall, have arrived."

A buzz of chatter had descended over the tables, as students muttered among themselves about what it would be like having foreign students with them. The chatter was cut short, abruptly, by the great doors opening and Professor McGonagall striding down the aisle between the tables, followed by the Beauxbatons students, who clustered by the doorway as if scared of attack.

Trailing behind McGonagall was a short, tubby boy with messy brown hair, who looked positively terrified of all the people looking at him and was nervously twiddling his fingers. There was a taller, more sophisticated looking boy who had ice blonde hair which half hid his equally icy face. He reminded Harry of Malfoy with his slouched posture and disapproving look. Beside him, there was a dark haired girl who had very pale skin and an aloof expression. Lastly there was...

"Fleur!" Harry heard Ron exclaim and looked a bit closer. It did indeed look like Fleur Delacour, who seemed to have grown even more beautiful than when she was at Hogwarts three years before, and had a haughty, I-hate-this-place kind of look.

Dumbledore cleared his throat again and everyone pried their gaze away from the new arrivals "Mr. Truman, Mr. Belledévre, Miss Chevin, Miss Delacour, I welcome you to Hogwarts. Please sit wherever you like."

The boys walked over and sat down on the Slytherin table, quite near Pansy Parkinson and her gang, and the girls immediately leaned over and started chatting the blonde one up.

The girls decided to spend a little longer deciding where to sit, but Harry, Ron and Ginny gave them friendly waves, and they nervously made their way towards them. Hermione didn't wave, because she was watching Pansy Parkinson flirt with the blonde boy from Beauxbatons, flicking her hair and leaning over to show off her cleavage.

It was disgusting, Hermione thought, especially for someone with a boyfriend. Thinking this made her glance over to Malfoy, to see if he had noticed his girlfriend chatting up another guy. With a shock, she realized he was staring right at her, or perhaps at the French girls who had just sat down next to them.

Ron turned round to see what Hermione was staring at, and caught Malfoy's glare. "Blimey!" He exclaimed, "Harry, does Malfoy's hair seem more blonde since last term? Because I think it does. Do you think he dyed it?"

"Honestly Ron!" Ginny squealed, sounding just like Mrs Weasley, "Say hello to Miss Chevin and Fleur, don't be so rude!"

"Oh, sorry." Said Ron gruffly, and suddenly realized that he was sitting next to a girl with Veela blood in her veins. "Er..um...hi!" He said nervously, and started playing with his piece of toast until Harry kicked him under the table.

"Fleur?" The girl who looked like Fleur said, in a surprisingly English accent "My name is not Fleur! Fleur is my sister!"

"What is your name then?" said Hermione, as surprised as the rest of them.

"My name is Gabrielle. Wait... you... "she pointed at Harry, "you are the boy who pulled me out of the lake in third year! You must know Fleur from when she came to see your school for the Triwizard tournament!"

"Oh right!" Harry said. "Cool! How are you?"

"Fine, thanks" Gabrielle replied "You have all grown so much!"

"So have you!" Ron exclaimed. "Grown more beautiful, I mean..." Ron blushed, ashamed of his outburst. Gabrielle giggled.

"What is your name?" Hermione asked the other girl.

"Brie," she replied, "I am 'een the same year as Gabby 'ere." She said softly, with a slightly heavier French accent than Gabrielle.

"Cool!" Harry said. "I'm Harry, this is Hermione, that's Ron, and that is Ginny. Hey look, Timetables!" He pointed out. Soon the sound of munching was replaced all over the hall by flipping of paper.

"Oh no..." Ron groaned. "Potions with the Slytherins _again_! I think another year of Malfoy's snide comments will push me over the edge!"

"Malfoy? Which one is he?" asked Gabrielle, inspecting the lines of students. "Is he on the same table as Ciel and Ranger?"

"Who and who?" said Ron, looking at Gabrielle in puzzlement.

"The two boys who came with us. Ciel is the blonde one, Ranger has brown hair. Is Malfoy sitting with them?"

"Oh, yes. His girlfriend Pansy is chatting up Ciel at the moment though. He's the blonde one sitting five seats to the left of Ciel."

"Right. Don't you like him then?"

"No! He has spent all of seven years making our lives darker and more depressing, he is so irritating, he's arrogant and conceited and vain and disdainful and rotten and he...he...he just..."

"Okay! Okay! I can see I have touched a tender subject!" Gabrielle laughed. She had a deep, warm laugh, so unlike Fleur's, Ron thought. "He should have great company with Ciel then. Ciel is the vainest boy in Beauxbatons. He has been out with most of the girls in our year, and broken each and every one's heart, including mine. Some he breaks twice!" She gave a sympathetic glance to Brie. "He messed with poor Brie's heart so badly she hasn't even looked at a guy since, have you Brie!"

Brie sighed and looked woeful. "No. 'Ee ees a rotten bastaird. I 'ate 'eem!" She said the last bit with such force that they were surprised. Hermione started babbling about classes or whatever, to try and lighten the mood, but Harry wasn't listening to her. He had just noticed that Ginny was very quiet, watching Brie, who was looking back. Brie looked confused and Ginny looked puzzled.

He glanced around the table, and saw Hermione, eyes glowing with the subject of her current choice, _Probably Arithmancy _thought Harry. Next was Ron, who was pretending to listen to Hermione but actually sneaking glances at Gabrielle, who in turn was doing exactly the same thing. Then he glanced at Ginny and the Brie. They were both pretending to listen as well, but it seemed to Harry like Ginny kept twitching and her face kept turning towards Brie before she pulled it back to where it was. It was the strangest thing, like watching someone fight with their own body.

_Well what have we here_, thought HarryBut just as he was making a move to say something to Ginny, everyone started moving out of the Great Hall to go to lessons. As students surged past him, he pulled Ginny aside.

"Ginny, will you meet me at lunch in the astronomy tower? I need to discuss something with you." He said, then hurried away before she had a chance to complain.

The rest of the morning passed fairly uneventfully for Hermione, unless you count Ron actually falling of the desk he had been lying his head on and causing Professor Binns to give him detention for "Not paying full and utter concentration to the events of his noble past." Many mutterings had been aroused by this and several students had been up to Ron to congratulate him on finally getting Binns to shut up for a few seconds.

Now, sitting here in Potions, she mentally shook herself as they were preparing a very powerful drug called _Velieris Vicissitudo _which had gave the drinker the power to change people's appearances. Snape had warned them to be careful, because if they did it wrong then they could be stuck with that appearance.

She glanced at Ron, who was sitting chopping up strangle vine roots next to her, then at Harry, who was crushing some pixie wings, then over at Draco and Pansy's table, neither of whom were doing anything constructive, but talking quietly to each other. Probably whispering sweet nothings to each other, thought Hermione, and turned back to her dried troll skin, which needed to be mashed into powder, a task requiring a fair bit of effort.

---

"But Draco, she's a stuck up bitch who _deserves_ it!" Pansy whispered, sitting on the other side of the room to Hermione. "And anyway, its not as if it would _worsen_ her appearance, because that's practically _impossible_."

Draco groaned. "Look Pansy, I really don't care about the Mudblood, but if you do something to her, then the whole class will be disrupted and Snape said we really need to know how to do this potion. Please Pansy? For me?" He looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Well... I suppose..." Pansy sighed, the grinned and whispered evilly in Draco's ear "_As long as you give me more than a goodnight kiss tonight_!" With a seductive smile, she turned back to her sliced serpent scales to leave Draco to brood over whatever he brooded about.

_Still_, Pansy thought, _It would be cool to get Granger back for that..._thing_...with the letters... yes, I think I will do it after all, no matter what Draco thinks! _And with that thought, she carefully added the shredded remora fin that would make her potion that bit more powerful than anyone else's.

---

The subject that Draco was brooding on at the moment was his general state of mind at Hogwarts. He was having a bit of trouble adjusting to the hustle of daily life and the jolliness with which everyone conversed. Back at the manor he had had only two decent conversations all summer, with a 'cousin' who had eventually turned out to be a banshee, and at the very beginning of the holidays with his father...

_"So Draco," Lucius drawled, "How will you be spending your summer?"_

_"I don't know, father." Draco replied. "I suspect you have something nasty in store for me, haven't you?"_

_"No-one knows me better than you, son. We will be departing for the Dark Lord's keep in two days. There I hope to make you the youngest Death Eater in history. How does that sound?"_

_Draco did not answer. He was reeling inside, dreading and anticipating the moment promised by this sudden revelation. Finally, the thing his father had been promising, threatening since he was old enough to understand, would happen. He would have the Dark Mark burnt into his skin and then he would become one of the evil side. "I..I am a little stunned, father." He mumbled, "Are you sure that..."_

_"Speak up boy! And don't you _dare_ say that you think it's a bad idea." Lucius' voice took on a soft, dangerously kind tone. "Of course, if you need some encouragement..."_

_"No! It's alright." Draco said hurriedly. "I was just going to comment that Dumbledore or one of the other teachers might notice a whopping great skull on my arm."_

_"True..." mused Lucius, "But I shall enchant it so that not even the mighty Dumbledore can see it. This is the final year of Potter's youth, and our last chance to destroy him before he comes into full adulthood. We must act before then!"_

_"I agree, father." Draco said. "Potter will no doubt face his final year with more saintly enthusiasm than all the other years put together."_

_"That is why you must get close to him, boy. Learn his weaknesses. Then pass them onto us so that we may finally bring the Dark Lord back to power!"_

_"Indeed father." Said Draco quietly, "May I be excused now? I need to go tell the house elves not to pack my velvet dress robes. That fool Crabbe spilt Itching powder down the front at the last ball and now I cannot wear it without scratching my..."_

_"Yes, yes. Off you go." Lucius said quickly. He watched his son walk out of the room and pause and the bottom of the stairs, glance back at him, then run up the steps two at a time._

"Your potions should be ready now. Pour two flasks, one to bring up to my desk, the other to drink." Snape's voice shook Draco out of his daydream. He poured out two flasks of the potion, which was a deep blue, and carried the smoking drink up to Snape's desk. Then he went back to the desk and took the potion in his perfectly manicured hands.

"Everyone ready?" Snape asked. "Good, now drink." There was a silence in the room as everyone downed the liquid. A few seconds later, the coughing began. Everyone, from Neville, who knelt on the floor and clutched his chest, to Blaise Zabini, who was just coughing ever so lightly, was affected. Draco was fairly controlled, with lots of small coughs. He looked over at Potter and his friends and felt smug when he saw that Potter was having to hold on to the desk to keep upright.

As the wheezing subsided, Snape came out from behind the desk and started organizing people into pairs. "Weasley, come and partner Zabini. Miss Parkinson, come and partner Miss Granger. Potter, come over here and go with Malfoy." Draco grimaced as the dark-haired boy slouched over, scowling. Once the whole class was paired up, Snape went back to his desk and gave the signal to begin.

It was mayhem. Draco saw Zabini make Weasley's hair flash traffic light colours, and Weasley turn Zabini's skin shocking pink. Longbottom was covered in fluff, and was clawing the hair out of his eyes as he tried to see his partner, who was grinning and stepping round him. Potter was advancing on him and Draco found that his own skin was covered in slimy scales making him appear a human shaped snake. "Very fetching, Potter." He drawled. "But I think that look would be better on _you_." At once, Potter was also in snake guise and the two snakes, one fair, one dark haired, pulled out their wands and started hexing each other.

The case was the same all over the classroom. Out of the corner of his eye Draco could see Snape trying to break up a fight between a person whose skin seemed to be made of a deep red liquid and was dripping off them, and another person who had been turned entirely black, from the eyes to the fingernails. The noise of people shouting was incredible. Jets of coloured light flew here and there as partners cursed each other, and there was a shrieking, clawing bundle in the corner as what looked like two girls with acid green skin and bright violet hair were spitting and pulling out chunks of each other's hair.

Then suddenly, someone screamed. Up till then, it had been shouts of anger, or surprise, but this scream was so full of pain it caused everyone in the room to stop and turn to look at the cause of the sound.

Hermione Granger was screaming, writhing on the ground as she fought to free herself from her skin. It was on fire. No, more than that, it was _made _of fire. Her hands flailed out and scorched the table near her as she fought to get away from the person standing over her, who was startlingly unscathed and appeared to be all the correct colours. Pansy Parkinson stared down at the ball of flames she had created, and smiled as the fire reflected in her sky blue eyes.

---

Harry yelled. He couldn't help it, the sight of his beautiful girlfriend in so much pain was horrific, and he tried to get close to her without burning himself.

He felt the rest of the class back away to the edges of the room and he cursed them silently for being such cowards. He grabbed his wand and shot jets of water at Hermione, but they evaporated before they even touched her.

Snape was yelling for him to get out of the way but he couldn't think of anything except how to get to her. He pushed Pansy out of the way and ignored the shriek as she knocked her head on the stone floor and passed out.

Ron was calling him, pleading with him to let Snape help Hermione, but Harry ignored him too, how could Ron let Hermione go to the mercy of the foul potions master!

He felt a hand grab the back of his robes and yank him backwards, and he fell sprawling on the ground and felt hands hold him there as he struggled. He heard Snape cast an incantation and Hermione's cries fell to moans. He made a great effort to sit up and he saw Hermione lying motionless under a bubble before he was forced to lie back down.

"Harry, _Harry_!" Ron's voice said in his ear, "Stay still or Snape will stun you! He's put a bubble round her to stop the fire from having enough oxygen to burn so fiercely. Madam Pomfrey is coming in a minute and then Hermione will go to the Hospital wing. Lie still!"

Harry finally slumped, breathing heavily and felt the hands let go of him. His vision seemed to be a bit blurry and Ron's face was swimming in front of his eyes. He heard Madam Pomfrey come into the room and dazedly watched Hermione float out on her stretcher.

"Potter, I think you had best come too." He heard Madam Pomfrey say, and felt Ron's arm hoisting him up. He glanced back and saw the rest of the students crowding fearfully round Snape, as if Harry might go mental at any moment and attack them. Pansy lay discarded on the floor and he saw Malfoy looking at her with a strange look in his eyes. Then the world span and he passed out on Ron's shoulder.

Draco stared at Pansy's unconscious form, not even noticing Potter being half-carried out of the room by Weasley. She was disheveled, her usually perfect hair in a mess like a halo around her head. Her robes were unruly and one arm was lying at a funny angle.

"Professor, I think Pansy is hurt as well." he said and Snape glanced over, looking almost as disheveled as Pansy. He was obviously under a lot of stress, considering how his class had been disrupted and two students had been put in the hospital wing. He was currently trying to settle the remaining students back to their desks, but without much success.

"Merlin! This is just _too much_!" He spat. "Class dismissed! Mr. Malfoy, take Miss Parkinson to the Hospital wing. I have to clean up."

Draco picked up Pansy and took her out of the mess of a classroom, beginning to walk towards the Hospital Wing. Suddenly she stirred, almost making him drop her.

"Draco...where am I..." She murmured.

"I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing." Draco replied. "Potter and Granger are already there. Merlin Pansy, what were you _thinking_!"

"I got her...I got her back for sending me those owls this summer...she...oh Draco..." Pansy whimpered, and Draco had to lean close to her to her what she was saying. "She knows we're against Dumbledore, Draco. She knows!"

Draco stopped dead. "_What_?" He said. "How can she know?"

"I don't know! But she sent these letters to me, and horrible things, like poisonous plants and stuff. She threatened to kill me! I was only getting her back, you know, striking first!"

"Pansy...you _know _that Mudblood could never kill you! She doesn't have the power, the killer instinct, whatever!"

"Draco...why are you defending her? You don't like her! She hates you!" The sky in Pansy's eyes was filled with clouds of doubt. "Wait...you don't have _feelings _for her do you?"

"No!" Draco was shocked she could even entertain that thought! "She is too far below our status, Pansy! And even if she was pureblood, I wouldn't like her. She's just...too clever for her own good."

"Good..." Pansy whispered, before her head lolled back as she fell unconscious again. Draco shook his head, banishing the unworthy thoughts that had crept up, and started walking again, trying to make his echoing footsteps force all thought from his mind.

SGSGSGS

Author's Note: Soooo, How is it? I hope you guys like it, this was the first fanfic I ever wrote, so I hope its okay.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **All's Fair in Love and War

**Author:** Silverhair Theory

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. If you sue me, all you'll get is my sweet stash and my teddy bear, and he bites. I wouldn't advise it.

**Chapter 2**

_He was in a dark room. Round the walls were hanging grotesque things. He could see severed hands and boxes with eerie rune markings on them. Along one wall were several long shelves of bottles and vials with nasty looking substances in them, all of dark, fading colours. Behind him he heard a movement and spun round. Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew, half hidden under long robes with large hoods, were looking straight at him in an awed fear. He turned back around and saw a grizzled man watching him from behind a counter. The man's eyes were filled with fear as he looked at Harry, and when Harry spoke it was in a low whisper, almost a hiss._

_"Well man? Have you got the poisons I ordered?" The man squeaked affirmatively and hurried over to the long shelves. He picked out a small vial of ivory colored powder and two bottles, one of purple shiny liquid and the other of matt black syrup-like stuff that seemed to absorb light. The man hurried back, then placed the poisons on the counter and nervously cleared his throat._

_"Err...two galleons, three sickles, Sir!" He said in a rush. Harry _looked _at him and the man gave a frightened whimper. Harry felt his hands reach into his robe and draw out a wand. The man backed away to the far wall and looked at Harry with horror and fear in his eyes._

_"Do not ask Lord Voldemort to pay, fool." Harry hissed. "_Avada Kedavra_!" he said softly, and the man half-screamed as the jet of green light hit him. Then he crumpled to the floor and Harry saw his own pale hands brush the poisons into him cloak. He then turned around and strode out of the shop into Knockturn Alley, Lucius Malfoy and Wormtail following briskly. He strode down away from the entrance to Diagon Alley until he reached a small alcove in the wall. Harry glanced around at Malfoy and Wormtail, and then all three of them put their hands on the brick wall._

_Harry felt a tugging sensation on the back of his robes and he felt wind howling past his ears, though his body seemed to stay completely still. Then the winds stopped and Harry realised he was in the grounds of an enormous manor, and that Knockturn Alley was nowhere in sight._

_Lucius Malfoy strode forward and placed his hand on the doorknocker of the door in front of them. The metal glowed blue for a moment then the door swung open and they all went inside. _

_Harry looked in amazement at the hallway down which they were walking. Along the walls were portraits of people, hundreds of them, all with the same cold grey eyes, Lucius Malfoy's eyes - Draco Malfoy's eyes. _This must be Malfoy Manor _Harry thought. There was a huge tapestry running the length of the ceiling, and Harry saw snakes, dragons, basilisks, veela, vampires, werewolves and other creatures which he couldn't identify, all fighting. All the creatures had the same eyes, the eyes of the Malfoy family, and Harry felt them watching him as he followed Lucius Malfoy down the hall._

_Malfoy turned into a small parlour room, filled with comfortable and expensive looking chairs. Pettigrew and Harry sat down and Malfoy poured three glasses of a purple liquor, which he passed around._

_"So Lucius, how soon can you have the concoction ready?" Harry hissed._

_"If I begin work on it tonight my Lord, then I can have it ready by Christmas." Malfoy said, sounding eager._

_"Good. We will hold another meeting here in your manor in one month. By that time Bellatrix should have acquired the weapons and we can begin performing the basic enchantments."_

_Forgive me, my Lord," Wormtail stuttered, "I know I am ignorant, but how are we going to get to Harry Potter at Christmas? He will be surrounded all the time. Won't he?"_

_"Ah my dear Wormtail, we will make him come to us."_

_"But how my Lord?"_

_"Once we have cast all the spells on Bellatrix's weapons, we will cover them in Lucius' potion so that they are unstoppable. Then I will lure one of his friends out of the castle, I will tell you how when the time comes, and Potter will come charging after them. He will not rest until he has saved the day again, with his foolish, if heroic, antics! That is how, Wormtail."_

_"But what if he brings other people?"_

_"Then we will simply kill them too. However, I doubt Potter will bring anyone. From what my spy tells me, he is becoming more and more withdrawn and he will surely want all the glory for his own, defeating Me and my army all by himself!" Harry laughed coldly._

_"How does the poison work again?"_

_"Wormtail, I explained this to you the other day!" Lucius Malfoy drawled, sounding eerily like Draco Malfoy. "The enchantments will make the metal tough and durable, un-summonable and impervious to all spells not cast by a Death Eater. The poison is a special kind which has the effect of making anything it cuts act like dead flesh, or in other words, it will rot and fall off."_

_Wormtail shuddered. Harry noticed Wormtail looked very out of place among the finery of Malfoy Manor, whereas Malfoy looked comfortable and powerful sitting in his high-backed chair twirling his glass in his manicured hands, so like his son's._

_"Lucius, we must leave." Harry said. "Nott and Macnair are returning from Egypt tonight and we need to be at the keep to give them their new assignment. Wormtail also needs to interrogate those irritating witches." He glared at Wormtail, who seemed to shrink under his gaze. "What were their names again?"_

_"Brie Chevin and Serenity Matthews, my Lord." Wormtail replied._

_"Yes. I hope you can get something useful out of them. Goodbye Lucius. I will contact you in a couple of days about the meeting." Harry handed over the poisons to Lucius Malfoy, and then stepped back._

_"Come Wormtail..."_

"When do you think he's gonna wake up?"

"Dunno. He was pretty out of it after Potions."

"Not surprising, he must have exhausted himself trying to reach Hermione."

"Don't look at me! If I hadn't held him down then he would have been burnt a lot more."

"Sure Ron, whatever. Just don't mention this to Mum okay? She'd have a fit if she knew Harry was in the Hospital Wing."

Voices floated into Harry's sub conscious. He recognised them as Ron's and Ginny's. As he regained consciousness he felt a soft pillow beneath his head and smelt the clean, fresh smell of the Hospital wing.

"Look, he's coming round. You can see his eyes flickering."

Harry opened him eyes and saw two blurry faces looking down at him. One had slightly longer hair than the other.

"Harry, mate! You alright?" One face said, he assumed it was Ron's.

"Yeah..." Harry croaked. "Ron... what happened to Hermione?"

"She got brought in here with you. Pomfrey put this mask thing on her then dunked her in a big tub of water. Some St Mungo's people came a few hours ago and whisked her off there." Ron said.

"Right." Harry said. "What happened about Snape?"

"Well, I brought you here, so I wasn't there. According to Neville though, he dismissed the class almost immediately so he could clean up."

"Harry, there's something you ought to know," Ginny interrupted. "Pansy was hurt in the struggle too. She's over there on the other side of the Hospital Wing."

Harry levered himself up and saw that Pansy was indeed laying on a bed across the room. Sitting next to her, holding her hand and gazing at her was...

"Malfoy." Harry said, surprised. "What's he doing here?"

"He_ is _Pansy's boyfriend, Harry." Ginny sighed. "He carried her in here just a few minutes after Ron brought you, he says."

"Oh." Harry said as he lay back down on the bed. He closed his eyes. They then snapped open as he remembered his dream. "Ron!" He gasped. "I have to see Dumbledore! I had another vision about Voldemort!"

Ron looked horrified. "Okay Harry. Wait, I'll just go tell Pomfrey where you're going. I'll be right back." Ron got up and rushed over to Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Harry, its just about dinnertime." Ginny said quietly. "I knew you were here so you couldn't talk to me at lunch. What's up?"

"Ginny..." Harry started, then stopped. "Ginny, do you like Brie?"

Ginny looked at Harry, startled. A brief feeling of panic flashed into her eyes, then was gone. She sighed. "I don't know. I haven't talked to her much. She seems okay, I suppose. It's just..." She was about to say something else but Ron came charging back.

"Come on Harry. Pomfrey said you can go to dinner and see Dumbledore, then she wants you back here for a check up." He helped Harry up and they walked out of the Hospital wing, Ginny following behind, playing with the ends of her hair.

"So that's what happened, Professor." Harry finished the story of his dream. Dumbledore had been sitting quietly in his chair, twiddling his thumbs while Harry explained what had happened. He was still twiddling his thumbs, but was now staring intently at them as though trying to work something out.

"Well Harry..."Dumbledore said "It is clear to me that what you dreamt is indeed another of those visions you appear to get, quite frequently, I believe?"

"Yes, Professor. Its usually boring things like ...Him looking at a picture or speaking to people. It hasn't been this...useful for a long time."

"Well, Harry, I can only think of one person who has the full knowledge to deal with what this dream means, and he is currently extremely busy, and unfortunately cannot help us."

"Really, is he the only one?"

"Hmmm..." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling. Then he seemed to come to a conclusion and looked back at Harry. "No. There is someone else. They're the apprintice to the first person, but are even less able to help."

"Who is that?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Hermione Granger."

"_Hermione? _But she never told us she was an apprentice! She tells us everything!" _She doesn't trust me. _Harry thought suddenly. _Me, her best friend, her boyfriend._

"Ah, but she was under a vow of silence. Only her master had the ability to tell people the secret."

"Then how do you know?" Harry puzzled. Then, he had an idea. "Wait...she's not _your_ apprentice?"

"Quite correct." Dumbledore sighed. "I have enough foresight to know I shall not be around much longer, and I wish to pass on my knowledge to a young mind, to prevent it from being lost forever."

"Wow...but I don't understand. How can Hermione help us with the oncoming attack?"

"Hermione Granger is an amazing witch. She has the gift of a partial-photographic memory. This means that most of the words from any book she has ever read can be recalled in an instant. It also means that she sometimes suffers from horrific nightmares. According to her, she gets them most when under extreme pressure, around exam time, or during times of emotional stress."

"But she knows I get nightmares too, why didn't she just talk to me about them?"

"Hermione is also a proud witch. She hates having to admit any kind of weakness. You should know that."

"I see. But Hermione is unconscious in St Mungo's isn't she? How long will it be before she is back? She can't help us while she's in hospital."

"Well, I contacted the medi-wizards as soon as I heard she had been removed there, and they estimate about a month."

"_A month?_" _A whole month without Hermione. A whole month without seeing her smile, or laugh, or feel her hand in his, or her skin next to his own. _The thought was not pleasing, and Harry felt weak at the prospect.

"Can we go and visit her?"

"Of course." Dumbledore smiled. "I was going to suggest that you, Ginny Weasley and Ron Weasley all go to visit her every weekend. We can provide transport if you like. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great." Harry said with relief. "I think I'll go and tell Ron and Ginny."

"Alright. Off you go then." Dumbledore said and watched Harry's retreating back leave his office.

SGSGSGS

Her eyelids fluttered as she slept. Her breathing was low, harsh, and he stroked her hand, hoping it would help. It had been hours since Potter and the Weasleys had left. The castle was quiet and it was dark outside. Madam Pomfrey had just left. She had made a half-hearted effort to remove him but didn't have the heart to make him leave, so she had simply turned off the lights and left them there in the dark.

In the dark. Draco felt as though he had been in the dark his whole life. Ever since he was small his life had been filled with darkness, and every day the Dark Lord came closer to his full powers, the darkness within him grew.

Pansy knew. She was full of darkness too, having had a similar upbringing to Draco. But Pansy was still free inside, free to roam in the darkness without fear of being hurt.

Draco was tied up, chained with heavy, ice-cold metal, which tugged at him and forced him to do things. He used to enjoy doing the things. Then as he grew up, the things he was made to do grew harder and harder. He didn't even know if he wanted to do the things any more. He just did them. All disobedience and rebellious spirit had been dealt with long ago by Lucius.

Lucius. His father was Voldemort's most powerful Death Eater, feared by the others as having powers unknown to all but himself and the Dark Lord. He was in possession of Draco's spirit, his freedom, and his life.

Draco laid his head on the bed next to Pansy's body. He thought back to his childhood, filled with tears and trials. Lucius was centre to all the discomfort Draco had ever experienced...

_Lucius' hands were cold against his face. His gaze was removed from the ground as the cold hands forced him to look up, up into his father's eyes._

_"Draco?" Lucius said, "Where were you at dinner tonight? Mr. and Mrs. Nott were dying to see you."_

_"I was upstairs." Draco said, his voice high with fear. "Doing...reading my book."_

_"Do not lie to me, Draco." Lucius said, his voice silky. "What were you doing?"_

_"I was reading! I was!" Draco's voice was going squeaky._

_"You disgrace me. Come, we shall find a way to make you tell the truth." Lucius pushed Draco down the hallways to the dungeons. He forced chains round his wrists and threaded it through a bolt on the floor. "Now Draco. I will give you one last chance to tell me. What. Were. You. Doing?" He said softly, enunciating clearly._

_"I was reading! I was! Oh father, please don't hurt me! Please..." Draco was nearly screaming._

_"Very well. _Crucio_." Lucius sighed, pointing his wand at Draco's standing form._

_Draco screamed now. He screamed, a high pitch shriek that shook dust from the ceiling and dislodged a couple of bats, which flew out of the door. He fell to his knees and hunched over, shrieking at the top of his lungs._

_Lucius lifted his wand. "Are you ready to tell me now?" He asked._

_"I...was...reading..." Draco said, gritting his teeth as he staggered back up. "Please, father..."_

_"Still stubborn are we? I see." Lucius said steadily and lowered his wand again._

_Draco gritted his teeth and stayed silent. Instead he fell to his knees again, turning his head away from his father. He keeled over until he was lying on the stone floor, and hunched up in a ball as he fought the pain. He still hadn't made a sound._

_"Very impressive. But you must stand up, boy, and not make a sound for me to leave you alone."_

_Draco winced as he got to his feet, and placed them slightly apart, and gritted his teeth. "I will not tell you what I was doing." he said, his voice firm but cautious, as if Draco wasn't sure how Lucius would react._

_"Another lie. I can see pain has not helped my cause. Lets try something else. _Perdo Spiritus

_Draco sputtered. He clutched his chest. He couldn't breathe, all his air was gone, he was drowning in air, drowning, drowning..._

_Lucius watched his son fall to the floor and spasm wildly. Draco's eyes were wide open, watching him._

Finite Incantem_" Lucius said quietly and watched Draco wheeze on the floor. "Will you tell me now?"_

_"Yes, father." Draco croaked, feeling his strength rush away like water. "I was...hiding. I don't like the Notts. Mrs. Nott always pinches me with her long nails and Mr. Nott stares at me all the time. His eyes give me nightmares. Father, don't be angry with me!"_

_"You disgrace me Draco." Lucius said, his voice full of anger. He got out his wand, and saw Draco's eyes shine with terror as he raised his wand. "_Infidi Velieris_." Draco's eyes widened with the sound of the spell, it was usually reserved for prisoners of contempt at Malfoy Manor. He cried out inside that his father should dishonour him so by using that spell. Then, as he felt a sharp line of pain flash across his stomach, he blacked out._

_He had been only five years old at the time._

SGSGSGS

For the next three weeks Harry and Ron constantly thought about Hermione. They struggled through lessons, tried and failed to pay attention in History of Magic, and spent every Saturday sitting at Hermione's bedside in St Mungo's.

On their third visit, they were sitting next to the bed with Ginny and talking about Hogwarts, Harry stroking Hermione's hand, when Harry felt a spasm go through her. He stopped halfway through his sentence and looked at her. Her skin was no longer burnt black, and her hair had started growing again, but she still had lots of scars, her beautiful face marred by scar tissue, which the medi-wizards had been unable to remove, as they had been caused by extremely powerful magic.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"Hermione." Harry said simply, and all three of them crowded round Hermione's head as they watched her.

Her eyes flickered,her face, which had been impassive for so long, grimaced in pain, and she opened her mouth slightly.

"Hermione?" Harry asked softly. "Can you hear me?"

She stirred, and slowly, painstakingly opened her eyes.

"Ha...Harry?" She whispered. "Ron? Ginny?"

"Yes. It's ok Hermione, we're all here."

"Oh Harry" she said and tried to get up but was too weak to do so. "Harry I've done a terrible thing, I..."

"Not now." Ron said firmly. "Ginny, go and get the mediwizard. She said to call her if Hermione woke up."

"My Ron...always so protective." Hermione smiled faintly and reached out for him. He bent down and hugged her close. Harry joined them, hugging his best friends and feeling tears falling down his face. He heard someone clear their throat.

"Do excuse me," the mediwizard said, trying to hide a smile. Ginny was smirking behind her. "I must ask you three to leave, Miss Granger needs attention, now."

"Fair enough." Harry said. He leant over and kissed Hermione softly on the lips. Her eyelids fluttered against his cheek and he pulled away, smiling. Then he grabbed Ron, who was grinning, and pushed him and Ginny out.

In the waiting room Harry paced while Ginny and Ron talked about Quidditch. He walked round the waiting room and found the visitors book on a small desk. He opened it and had a look to see who had visited Hermione. _Dumbledore, McGonagall, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown _and... _Draco Malfoy_?

"Hey guys, look at this." Harry said. "Malfoy came to visit Hermione while she was unconscious."

"What?" Ron said, startled. "If creep did anything to her I swear I'll..."

"That's enough Ron" Ginny sighed as she looked over Harry's arm at Malfoy's signature. "The mediwizards would have known if he'd done anything. Wouldn't they?" She sounded unsure.

"One way to find out." Ron said, and timidly knocked on the door of Hermione's room. Once inside Harry saw that Hermione had had her clothes changed, and that she was looking a lot healthier and happier.

"Please excuse us for interrupting." Ron said to the mediwizard, "But we have just been looking at the visitors book and..." He looked at Hermione "could we talk about this outside?" Hermione looked curious as the mediwizard followed Ron out. She looked at Harry and Ginny for an explanation.

"What was that about?" She said, her voice strong and full of life now.

"We'll tell you after Ron has talked to the mediwizard. Don't worry, we don't think it's anything serious." Harry said soothingly.

They sat together in companionable silence while they waited for Ron. When they came back in Ron was looking worried and the mediwizard was looking grave.

"Miss Granger, I am sorry to inform you that we will have to keep you here one more night, instead of letting you go today as we had hoped."

"Why?" Hermione looked anxious. "What's wrong?"

"Mr Weasley has informed me of a certain person who visited you while you were unconscious. Mr Weasley apparently has reason to believe that something untoward took place while he was alone with you."

Hermione looked scandalised, then started as she turned to Harry "Its Draco Malfoy isn't it?"

"Yes! How did you know?" Harry was stunned.

"I had...a dream about him. While I was unconscious."

"Really? What was in the dream?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it. But I can assure you nothing happened while he was here."

"Well, just in case, I think you ought to stay here for one more night anyway." Harry nodded at the mediwizard, and she ushered them out. "Lets go back to school." Harry sighed, and they walked away from Hermione's room.

When Hermione returned to school the next day, she was as full of life as ever, if not more so. She worked doubly hard to catch up on all the work she'd missed and gave Harry and Ron sets of notes from Binns, to make up for the ones they missed. Everyone welcomed her back in the corridors - well, nearly everyone.

Pansy Parkinson was back in school life and whenever she and Hermione crossed paths they stared firmly away from each other. Many of Pansy's friends ended up doing the same. Draco Malfoy and his cronies also contrived to ignore her wherever she went. The tests from St Mungo's had come up negative on anything unusual, so Harry and Ron only had faint doubts now.

After assurance that she wasn't breaking her vow, Hermione had explained all about being apprentice to Dumbledore. She agreed to help research the mysterious poisons and started work in the library the very next day.

About a week later, she came back to Harry and told him she had good news.

"I've found that poison you dreamt about! It's really nasty, but there is an antidote. It's really complicated though. I can't make it myself. Dumbledore says he's looking for someone to help me."

"Good." Harry said with relief. The problem of the poison had been weighing on his mind for ages. At that moment Ron rushed up.

"Hermione!" He said, panting "You have to go to Dumbledore's office now. He says he's found you a potion brewer. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Yes! Ask Harry." She said to his questioning look, as she rushed off in the direction of Dumbledore's office.

Harry laughed and explained.

Hermione gave the password to the eagle outside the office, opened the door and went in. She got a shock when, instead of Dumbledore she saw Malfoy standing there.

"What are you doing here?" She spat. "I have to speak to Dumbledore."

"Well so do I!" Malfoy snapped. "He says I have to brew a very important potion for him. I was obviously the best choice, being best in the school, after Professor Snape, at brewing potions. He wanted me to wait for my partner, who knows what to do, here."

"No!" Hermione's insides had gone cold. "You can't be the one I have to work with!"

"_You_?" Malfoy goggled. "_You're_ my partner?"

"Apparently so. Merlin, this is going to take ages!" Hermione groaned.

At that moment Dumbledore entered the office. He was a little surprised to see his two students staring daggers at each other, but he carried on as best he could.

"Well, I see you both know who you're working with then. I must tell you now I will not hold with any arguing. This potion must be brewed and it must be brewed right. You will have dungeon four to use, all the ingredients you will need are down there. Every second night you will meet here then go down to the dungeons. Do you have any questions?" Hermione and Malfoy stared at each other grimly and shook their heads. "Very well. You start tomorrow night. Sleep well." Dumbledore yawned and ushered them out of the office.

Once outside Hermione and Malfoy stared at each other for a moment longer, then turned their backs on each other and stalked away.

SGSGSGS

Draco received a "Good Luck" from Pansy as he left the common room the next evening. He was dreading the night and had made sure everyone in Slytherin and a good proportion of the other houses knew it.

Draco strolled down the corridors, taking points off of people scurrying around, as it was after curfew. Of course, he and Granger wouldn't have to worry, because as Head Girl and Boy they were allowed out after hours. Draco only wished he could sleep in the Head Boy and Girl dorms, but the Beauxbatons students were sleeping there.

He reached the eagle outside Dumbledore's office and found Granger waiting for him. They started to walk in silence down towards the dungeons. When they reached the room they went in and went to opposite sides of the room, to get away from each other.

The silence was oppressive, but it couldn't last long.

"Have you done something with you hair, Granger?" Draco spat, unable to bear the silence. "It looks different."

"Good different or bad?" Granger said warily.

"Well, if you were going for the brown shrub look..." Draco smirked as Granger fumed

"If that is your idea of a compliment, Malfoy, I'm surprised you ever got any girlfriends." Granger grinned as Malfoy bridled at the comeback, but he pulled himself back together.

"They all fell for my charm and natural wit." He said with disdain.

"Hmm. Spite and natural ooze maybe." Granger said doubtfully. Then she grinned wickedly. "Oh and Malfoy, I've been meaning to ask you, do you dye your hair?"

"No!" Draco was outraged. "Whatever made you think that?"

"Oh, Ron noticed it looked blonder than before the holidays."

"Its the sun. It bleaches it." Malfoy huffed.

"Sure Malfoy." Granger said, dripping sarcasm. "Whatever you say."

"It does! Anyway, it looks way better than the Weasel's hair. He could do with dying it, if you ask me."

"Don't insult my friends!"

"Who can I insult then? I have to insult someone, it's my nature."

"Insult Pansy." Granger said primly.

"No. Granger, don't you go there." Malfoy growled. "Keep out of my love life."

"Or what?" Granger stopped what she was doing and faced Malfoy, hands on hips.

"Or I'll tell Potter some things you'll wish I hadn't." An evil grin played around the edge of Malfoy's mouth.

"Like what?" Granger challenged him.

Now Draco was angry. "Like the fact that I know you sent letters and..._things_ to Pansy over the summer. I know you know, Granger."

Granger gasped. "But you can't tell him that! He'll want to know how I knew and then..."

"Then you'll have to tell him your dirty little secret, won't you!" Draco drawled, knowing he had Granger hanging on every word.

"How do you know about that?" Shocked, she backed away from him.

"I have my sources. Stay away from us, Granger. You don't want to get involved."

"Don't you tell me what I should and should not want!" Hermione shouted.

"Why? I know what you feel so I can tell what's best for you, right?" Draco taunted her.

"You don't know how I feel! You shouldn't assume things about me!" Herminone was yelling now.

"Well, I think I have every right, seeing as you never tell me any of your feelings or anything!" Now Draco was shouting too.

"Why should I tell you? You're not my friend, you're not even in my house! You a Slytherin bastard who is nothing but pride and filth."

"Filth? You're the Mudblood!"

"You're prejudiced too!"

"I'm not staying here to be insulted! I'm leaving!

"Fine! Go! I wont miss you! In fact, I'm going too!"

They both stormed out, leaving half prepared ingredients on the desks. Hermione ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower and then sobbed on Harry's shoulder for half and hour.

Draco stayed down in the dungeons, leaning on the door. He had known something would go wrong tonight.

He had been right.

SGSGSGS

Author's Note: Hmm, lets see...nope, I have nothing to say. Oh, except Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **All's Fair in Love and War

**Author:** Silverhair Theory

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. If you sue me, all you'll get is my sweet stash and my teddy bear, and he bites. I wouldn't advise it.

**Chapter Three**

The next morning when Draco was woken up by an owl tapping on his window. He scowled and got out of bed, walking over to let the owl in. He ripped the letter off its leg and practically threw it out the window.

"That's for waking me up!" He yelled after it.

"Draco, go back to sleep." Blaise mumbled from his four poster. "It's not the owl's fault."

Draco gave Blaise's curtains a very dirty look and flumped down on his bed to read the letter.

_Mr. Malfoy,_

_I am under the impression that your potion brewing session with Miss Granger did not go amiably. This is not acceptable behavior. I must ask you to meet me in my office at 2:00 this afternoon to discuss how you two can work together in a civilised manner. I have sent Miss Granger a similar letter to this one._

_Professor Dumbledore_

Draco groaned. He was going to regret ever agreeing to brew that potion. He didn't even know what it was for! Looking at the clock, the time blinked impertinently at him. 6:45. He had just known it was some god-forsaken hour in the morning. He dropped the letter by the side of his bed in disgust and pulled the covers over his head.

After a few moments he realised this was pointless as the renewed stress had made him fully awake. He grumpily put on his robes and retreated down the corridor to the common room. He sat in front of the remains of last night's fire, and leaned back in his chair.

He wondered if Potter and Weasley knew about the visit he'd paid to Granger when she was in hospital. He suspected that they did, but that they couldn't do anything about it, judging from the looks of loathing he got from them every time they passed in a corridor. Hermione seemed to be avoiding his gaze, and was always deep in conversation with Potter or Weasley. And it wasn't as if he'd even _done _anything. Much.

As the body of students woke around him, he listened to people talking and as the hum of chatter grew, he thought he heard someone screaming. He sat upright and listened hard. Yes, there it was again. Other people were also appearing from other dorms, looking curious about who was making such a noise so early.

It was coming from Pansy's dorm, but Draco knew it wasn't Pansy screaming. With a sense of foreboding, he pushed through the crowd spilling through their door and almost yelled himself.

Maria, one of Pansy's friends was backed against the wall next to the window, screaming. The other girls were all clutching their bedcovers to them and looking fearfully out from between their curtains. Pansy was the only one apparently asleep. She was half-falling out of her bed and had her eyes closed. He pale arm was lying across the floor, and on the forearm was an ugly black mark.

The Dark Mark. As the students around Draco registered the mark, many of them started murmuring and backing away, especially the younger years. Soon only Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle and Draco were left in the room.

What most people didn't know was that although Slytherin house had been linked with Voldemort for many years, most of the students in the house had very little to do with the uprising. The only ones properly involved were all the boys present, Pansy and her friend, who was looking nervous but not scared.

"What's going on here?" Draco heard Snape call from the common room. He didn't have much time. With haste, he strode across to Pansy and pulled out his wand. He muttered something and touched his wand to the Dark Mark on Pansy's arm. It vanished and a purplish bruise appeared there instead. He quickly gathered Pansy up in his arms and started stroking her hair.

"Mr. Malfoy, what in Merlin's name is going on?" Snape was standing in the doorway.

"I don't know sir. I woke up to screams from Pansy's room and I came to see if she was alright."

"And is she?"

"I think so, sir."

"She's not!" Maria cried, hysterical. "She was lying across the floor, with...the...Dark Mark on her arm!"

Snape looked stunned. Then he turned to Pansy and turned over her arm. The bruise shone at him. "Are you _sure_ you saw the Mark, Miss Mallard? Its seems to me that Miss Parkinson has simply got a large bruise."

"Ask anyone!" Maria shrieked. "Ask them!" She pointed to Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well?" Snape said, "Did she?

Crabbe and Goyle shook their heads. "No sir." Blaise said. "We just saw that bruise. I think Maria may have had too late a night." He gave a suitably nervous glance at Maria, who blanched.

"They're lying!" She yelled. The girls in the beds around them were looking unsure, cautious and Draco saw some curious faces appear behind Snape's back.

"Miss Mallard, I think you need some more sleep. You are excused from all lessons this morning." Snape looked dubiously towards her. "And if you persist in making trouble then I shall have to send you to the hospital wing."

Maria sobbed and flung herself down on her bed. Draco watched Snape leave and heard him rounding up all the eavesdroppers. He saw Pansy's friend making her way across the room towards them. They both looked at her while the other girls in the room fussed over Maria.

Pansy's eyes flickered open. She grinned up at them.

"Pansy? You were awake the whole time?" Pansy's friend sounded curious rather than shocked.

"Yes I was. I woke up when stupid Maria started screaming but I heard her shout something like 'She's got a Dark Mark on her arm' and I figured that meant me, since Persia hasn't got it yet." She looked at her friend, who nodded. "I thought it would be simpler if no-one asked me any questions. By the way, I assume you removed it Draco?"

"I did." Draco said. "But Pansy, the Dark Lord put a spell on them to make them invisible to the naked eye. Why was it showing in the first place?"

"I don't know! I had a dream though. About the Dark Lord. I was at Malfoy Manor, In that purple study that your father likes so much and the Dark Lord was there, with your dad. They led me down the corridor, to a long low room with..."

"...Red walls the colour of blood. They then sat you down at a table with the rest of the Death Eaters and made a plan to conquer Harry Potter." Draco finished.

"How do you know?" Pansy gaped.

"I had the same dream." Draco muttered. "Wait, that means..." He lifted up the sleeve of his robe and saw the Dark Mark burning there too. "The same thing. I think that dream was instructions. For all the Death Eaters who weren't there at the actual meeting. Can you remember what he said at the end?"

"Yes, he said that anyone who was listening should hold their arm out and touch the Mark on the 24th of December, at Midnight. Wait, that's Christmas eve!"

Draco brooded over this for a while. "Pansy, Persia," He said, "Get dressed. Then meet me and the other guys in Dungeon five after breakfast. We need to have a serious talk."

SGSGSGS

"Hey Harry, did you hear about what happened in the Slytherin dorms this morning?" Seamus asked eagerly at breakfast.

"No. Hey Ron, listen." He punched Ron in the arm and he turned around from talking to Gabrielle. They were both smiling.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Apparently something happened in Slytherin House this morning. Go on Seamus."

"Well," Seamus began, and took a deep breath. "According to Parvati, who heard it from Padma, who has a friend who knows someone in Slytherin's sister, someone woke everyone else up by screaming this morning, apparently, someone saw the Dark Mark on someone else's arm!" He finished without drawing a breath and grinned at them.

"The Dark Mark?" Hermione looked extremely worried. "It can't be. Someone would have noticed it before now!"

"Yeah..." Harry said, suddenly wondering. "I'm sure Snape or someone would have done something about it if the rumour was true."

"What was that about me, Potter?" A voice drawled from behind him. Harry slowly turned round and saw Snape standing over him, looking furious.

"We were just talking, Professor, about the person who is supposed to have the Dark Mark on their arm. Is it true?" Hermione said sweetly.

"Certainly not!" Snape said scathingly. "We would have noticed before now, you silly girl. A person who I fancy had had too late a night got a little hysterical over what turned out to be a rather nasty bruise, not a Dark Mark at all."

"Alright then, Professor." Harry said, giving a false smile, and turned around again. Snape stalked off. "So, do you think it's true?"

"I s'pose so." Ron said, glumly. "It's a pity though. It's been ages since we had a decent bit of gossip." Gabrielle whispered something in his ear and Ron grinned evilly. They glanced each other, nodded then got up and left the Great Hall.

"What was that about?" Harry asked.

"Dunno." Hermione replied. "Oh Harry, I can't bear to have to go to that meeting with _him_ today. I just _can't_!" Harry gave her a long hug, then kissed her forehead.

"You'll survive. I'm sure you will." He gave her a champion smile and she smiled feebly back. "If he gives you any trouble, just turn him into a ferret. I'm sure that'll work."

Hermione chuckled. Then she sighed and rested her head on Harry's shoulder.

Pansy and Persia entered Dungeon five after breakfast to find Draco and the boys waiting for them. Someone had conjured up some chairs and they all sat.

"So." Draco said. "For those of us who are unsure, Pansy and I had had dreams last night which were exactly the same, about the Dark Lord giving us orders. I suspect he was using the Dark Mark as a signal, to show us the dream had meaning. I think we ought to do what he told us on Christmas eve.

You guys who don't have the Mark can hold onto us when we 'port there. That should make you come as well. It will mean us all staying at Hogwarts over the holidays, so we can be together to get there. Is everyone ok with that?"

There was a general mumbled agreement. Draco nodded and pulled out his wand.

"Now, you guys, we need some way of contacting each other wherever we are, so that if anything happens we can all be informed quickly. With your permission, I want to use a charm my father taught me over the summer. Its like a less powerful version of the Dark Mark. It's not permanent, and it doesn't teleport you anywhere. What it will do is allow you to speak telepathically to any one of us, at any time. Look, I'll do it to myself first to show you. It needs to be somewhere no-one with see it, so on the forearm is probably not a good place."

Draco unbuttoned his shirt a little and pulled the collar down at the back. He pointed his wand in the middle of his back and said "_Signae_" he then turned around so they could see.

It was a picture of a snake attacking a lion. The lion was on its back and the snake was wrapped round it, about to strike it's throat. Pansy recoiled from the picture and shuddered.

"Its so...gory." She said. "can't it look like something different?"

"I can't change it. It's always the same when I cast it. If we want to be able to speak to each other then we all have to bear the same mark."

"Okay mate. Here, do me." Blaise said and bared his back to Draco. Crabbe and Goyle did the same and soon all four bore the gory tattoo. Draco turned towards the girls.

"You next, ladies." Persia sighed and pulled her t-shirt up until it was just underneath her bra. Draco tried not to look but branded her too. Then it was just Pansy left.

"Fine!" She said, and did the same as Persia. When Draco was finished, they stayed silent, getting used to the feeling of the mark on their skin.

_So, is everyone all right? _Draco said, and Pansy squealed.

_Wow, this is seriously cool man. _Blaise said, looking impressed.

_Okay guys, so if we find anything out we think the others need to know, just broadcast the thought and we'll all hear it. Now I suggest we leave, I think the first lessons start soon. _Draco thought, and they all trooped out, and headed off to their separate lessons.

SGSGSGS

Lessons that day were torture for Draco and Hermione. They could hardly concentrate, knowing that they were going to be forced to work together later that day.

As the time inched round to 2:00, Hermione left Harry and Ron talking about Quidditch and dragged herself to Dumbledores office. Malfoy and Dumbledore were there waiting for her.

"Have a seat, Miss Granger." Dumbledore said, pleasantly. Hermione sat, not looking at Malfoy. "Now, I understand that last night did not go as well as planned. Am I correct?"

They both nodded sullenly. "I must tell you that this is unacceptable. People's lives may depend on whether you get this potion right and I am afraid that if you persist in not working together I shall have to dismiss you and find another pair of willing students, though I don't know who..."

"It's okay professor." Hermione sighed. "I'll try to work with Malfoy." She glared pointedly at Malfoy, who shrugged.

"I will too, Headmaster." He drawled.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore said, smiling. You can begin work properly tomorrow night. Good Luck!" And he ushered them out of his office.

Out in the corridor Hermione turned to Malfoy. "Malfoy, you know as well as I do that it's a great honour to be trusted with making this potion." Malfoy nodded warily. "It would be terrible if we were not allowed to do it because we fight so much." Malfoy nodded again. "So I think it would be best If we didn't talk about subjects which we disagree on, such as my friends or my blood..."

"...or my friends or my family." Malfoy finished. He nodded again. "Much as I hate to agree with you, you're right. I don't want to be dishonoured like that." He shuddered at the thought of his father hearing of it.

"So it's agreed. We will not try and antagonise, irritate or annoy the other one." They both nodded and turned to go.

Draco had only gone a few steps before he thought he heard Granger say "Thanks Draco." He stopped and turned around but she was already gone.

SGSGSGS

The next evening Draco once again arrived at Dungeon four. He was bundling all the ingredients they would need into little piles as Granger came in and so heard her gasp before he saw her. He turned around and saw she, like him, had chosen to wear muggle clothes rather than robes.

He caught his breath as he looked her over. She was wearing a dark red short sleeved shirt and black corduroy trousers, her hair in a loose ponytail with strands hanging by her ears. She looked beautiful.

Hermione was eyeing Malfoy as well, with equal interest. He was wearing a black turtleneck and black jeans with a silver and green dragon wound round one leg. He looked gorgeous.

They simultaneously noticed the way they were looking at each other and busied themselves getting things ready for the potion, blushing madly.

As they started preparing the ingredients, Hermione noticed Malfoy sneaking glances at her under his eyelashes. She suddenly realised she was doing it too. Blushing, she tipped the prepared ingredients into the cauldron.

Malfoy started stirring it, and Hermione mashed up some Chizpurfles. There was an awkward silence, broken only by the scraping of Hermione's pestle.

"Nice weather." Malfoy commented, and Hermione, glancing out of the window, saw that it was indeed a beautiful evening, with a cloudless sky and every star clear and bright. She half-smiled at Malfoy and he half-smiled back, then looked shocked at his own actions and turned his head away, letting his hair fall across his face.

"What are you doing for Christmas?" Hermione asked, in a desperate attempt to make some civilised conversation.

"My family are going to the Caribbean, so I'm staying here." Draco lied, and felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was a strange heavy feeling, like a large stone was sitting inside him. He realised it was guilt, which was weird, because he felt no guilt when lying to anyone else.

"Oh, same here." Hermione replied. "My parents are going to Leeds for a conference."

"Right..." Draco said. He cast his mind around for another subject. "What are you asking for…for Christmas I mean?"

"Um...I haven't thought about it yet. I'd quite like a copy of this book I heard about on the Wizarding Wireless Network, _How to Transform Yourself _by Jennifer Gilbert, but it's not in any of the bookshops I've tried, not even in Diagon Alley. What would you want?"

"Well, actually, ever since I was a small boy I've wanted a Moke. It's a lizard which has the power to shrink itself so no-one can find it. The problem is they're really hard to catch, because they tend to shrink when they get scared." Draco smiled ruefully. "That's what I'd want if I could have anything. I've never told anyone else, because Mokes are generally considered to be evil creatures. I think we would go quite well together, don't you?" He grinned at Hermione, who grinned back.

_What am I doing? _Draco asked himself. _I can't have feelings for her. She's a mudblood. _He opened his mouth to say something but was distracted by a tapping sound from outside the door. "What's that?" He asked.

"I dunno." said Hermione. "I'll go and have a look." She went to the door and opened it, then jumped backwards squealing as Peeves flew in her face.

"Hehe! Naughty naughty! You students should be in bed!" Peeves cackled. "I'm gonna tell on you!" He took a deep breath, but never got a chance to call as Draco pulled out his wand and shouted "_Emittit Phasma_!" Peeves flew across the room and through the wall. They heard him cursing in the corridor then zoomed back through the wall and started throwing things at them.

"No, Peeves!" Hermione yelled as the careful arranged bundles of ingredients started flying through the air. "We need those!"

"Do you? Here, have them!" Peeves shrieked and threw four bottles of liquid at them. Draco stopped them hitting the floor with his wand and set them out of Peeves way. Peeves approached the cauldron.

"Don't you dare!" Draco thundered and left the potion to shoot a jet of blue light at Peeves, who doubled over in the air and yelled angrily. Another jet of blue light created manacles round Peeves' hands, and attached him to a wall. With an angry yell, he broke free and started chucking books froim the top shelves at them.

Draco and Hermione were hiding behind the cauldron "Here, hold your hands out!" He said to Hermione, and she held her hands up. Draco shouted "_Phasma Manus_!" and Hermione's hands started glowing blue. Draco performed the spell on himself too.

He reached up and grabbed Peeves. Instead of his hands going through him, they held and Draco dragged Peeves down to the floor holding him steady.

Peeves struggled out of Draco's grip and started waving his hands around in Draco's body, making Draco feel lightheaded and dizzy. He keeled over and feebly tried to fend of Peeves' attack.

Suddenly Hermione grabbed Peeves round the neck with her glowing hands and held him still. Draco got up and got out his wand again, but Peeves wriggled out of Hermione's grasp and started floating away as fast as he could.

Draco and Hermione grabbed him from behind and tried to pull him back, but he was too strong, and pulled out of their grip and off through the wall and down the corridor, cursing.

Draco an Hermione collapsed in a heap on the floor, panting. Draco noticed Hermione's hair was askew and that she was flushed and hot.

They sat for a moment in silence, but not awkward silence. Then Draco noticed the potion bubbling red and got up to stir it again. As he looked into the boiling red potion, he thought of the blood which would be spilled when the Dark Lord carried out his plan at Christmas. He vaguely wondered why he hoped that Granger wouldn't be one of the ones there.

Hermione gazed at the red liquid. Red, the colour of love.

SGSGSGS

Author's Note: I would just like to say that I am really, really bad at writing het, as you will see when you think that most of my other stories are slash. If you have any ideas on how to make the romance better then I would be most extremely grateful. I just have issues with plotlines.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: All's Fair in Love and War**

**Author: Silverhair Theory**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. If you sue me, all you'll get is my sweet stash and my teddy bear, and he bites. I wouldn't advise it.**

_Authors Note: Look, I know I don't usually put an A/N at the beginning of a chapter, but just recently my beta untimely deserted me and now I have noone but myself to check through the chapters. As such I apologise in advance for all spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes and general mistakes._

**Chapter 4**

For the next few weeks, life passed in a blur for Draco. Lessons seemed to fly by, the corridors were filled with people who's faces were hazy, all except one.

Wherever he was, wherever he went, he always caught himself looking out for her. In every lesson they had together, he would always find himself sitting close to her. Whenever she talked to him his heart speeded up. Unfortunately, his mouth and body appeared to be agreeing with what his father would say, and were stubbornly insulting her and acting like they didn't care.

_What is she doing to me?_ Draco wondered in the Slytherin common room, late at night. _I can't have feelings for her. I mean, for a start, what would father say. He knows I can't lie to him. What am I going to do? _But the flickering fire had no answers for him.

A welcome distraction came about three weeks after that potion night when Draco noticed a sign on the notice board;

_Calling all Adventurers!_

_The Department of Muggle Relations at the Ministry of Magic has proposed an excursion for witches and wizards over 16 years of age, to train them how to survive, should they ever find themselves in muggle occupied territory without the capacity to perform magic._

_This excursion will take the form of:_

_1) a residential period in muggle occupied territory._

_2) a challenge which will involve travelling and survival out-of-doors._

_3) a short time spend enhancing wizard-muggle relations._

_It will be held over a period of one month. If enough people sign up then the first part of the excusion will take place in approximately two weeks._

_Those who have an interest in participating must sign their names on the board outside the Great Hall by Saturday._

_There is also an Introductory meeting for those who are thinking of going, and it will be held in the Transfiguration classroom at 1:00 tommorow afternoon. If you miss this meeting you may speak to Professor McGonagall._

Draco read the notice with interest. Although he had no real interest in helping muggle-wizard relations, the time spent out of school would hopefully take his mind off the thoughts forever running round in his head.

Besides, it wasn't as if Granger would go, was it? She was muggle-born, she knew all about muggles, she didn't need to study them. At least, he hoped she didn't. Didn't he?

SGSGSGS

"Come on Ron! It'll be fascinating! Just think, we get to improve relations with the muggle community, we help wizard and mugglekind!" Hermione said.

They were all standing next to the notice board. Hermione was trying to persuade Ron to go on the muggle excursion. Ron was flatly refusing. Harry was trying to work out whether he should try and break them up or leave them to sort it out.

"No, Herm. I wouldn't be able to bear living near muggles. I'd probably say something stupid to the whole neighborhood and then they'd have to call in the Ministry Task Force to obliviate them all. I am _not_ going." Ron said stubbonly.

"Oh Ron, you really are hopeless. Tell him, Harry!" Hermione poked Harry.

"Ron, you might actually like it. Just think, a whole month away from Draco Malfoy and the other Slytherins. 'Coz really, none of them are gonna come are they?" Harry reasoned, knowing Ron hated Slytherins more than anything else, except perhaps spiders.

"I s'pose..." Ron admitted grudgingly.

Encoraged, Hermione said "We'll be able to spend some time out-of-doors as well! It'll be like, that thing, that muggles do in senior school, oh whats it called..." Hermione trailed off, thinking hard.

"Duke of Edinburgh's award?" Harry asked. "The Dursleys were talking about Dudley doing it last summer. The exercise would have been good for him. It's a pity, he couldn't even handle the training, I could have gone."

"But this'll be so much better, Harry! We can spend lots of time working, go to bed early, get up early, everything!" She looked at the two horrorstruck faces of Ron and Harry, then laughed. "Don't worry, I'm only kidding. Hey Ron, you can bring Gabrielle!"

This was the deciding point for Ron. He nodded, beginning to grin again. "Yeah, yeah I can. I think I'll go ask her." He hurried out of the portrait hole.

"Have you noticed Gabrielle and Ron have been spending a lot of time together?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Come on Herm, it's obvious they fancy each other, you're a girl, you're supposed to be good at understanding this sort of stuff!" Harry teased.

Hermione frowned. Then she sighed and put her arms round Harry. She kissed him and tried to forget the thoughts that seemed to be persisting in her mind.

The next afternoon Harry, Ron and Hermione joined the other sixth and seventh years from all four houses going to the meeting. They all clustered in the transfiguration classroom and looked up at Professor McGonagall behind the desk. She stood up and everyone stopped chatting.

"Welcome to the Muggle Studies excursion meeting. As I'm sure you all know, in two weeks we will be taking you all to an area of muggle occupied territory. You will be sorted into groups of fourteen and given a teacher as your group leader. You will be staying in rented appartments, in your groups of fourteen. Any questions?"

"Professor?" A thin ravenclaw girl boy said. "When do we find out who we're in groups with?"

"Submit to me a list of no less than six and no more than eight of groups who would like to be together. We will then add groups together to make larger groups of fourteen. We want you to have the chance to socialise." Mutterings broke out among the students, and Professor McGonagall quitened them before pointing to a blonde hufflepuff, who had her hand up.

"When will we know who our group leader is going to be?"

"You will find out when we have organised the groups. Is that all?" No more hands were raised. "Right then, off you go. If you could please hand the lists of names to me by the end of the week, then you will all be notified when we have made a descision." She started packing away her notes and everybody trooped out.

In the common room that evening, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Gabrielle were sitting around a table, composing a list of names for the apartments. Hermione was writing on the slip of parchment, Ginny and Gabrielle were giggling about something and Ron and Harry were talking about quidditch.

Hermione sat up and cleared her throat. "Okay, so far we have me, all of you and Brie. Is there anyone else?" Everybody shook their heads. "Right. I'm just going to go and put them on Professor McGonagall's shelf." She got up and climbed out of the portrait hole. Harry watched her leave and sighed.

"Isn't she beautiful. Tell me Ron, is she not the most beautiful thing you ever saw?" Harry smiled lazily at Ron.

"Well, no-one could deny that Hermione is beautiful." Ron said, grinning. "But personally I think I know someone better." He looked over at Gabrielle, who was smiling and laughing with Ginny, and sighed. Harry smiled a knowing smile and watched Ron stare at Gabrielle. She glanced over at him and blushed, Ginny looking too, and Harry saw Ginny smiling also, but there was something strange, her eyes had a pained look, as if she wasn't really happy at all. He heard the clatter as Hermione entered the common room again.

"What? What is everyone grinning at?" She looked confused.

"Nothing." Harry said, standing up and swinging her round so he was holding her up. "Nothing at all." He grinned cheekily and kissed Hermione before she could argue.

SGSGSGS

The following monday, Harry, Ron and Hermione left their dorms to find an enourmous crowd around the notice board. Ron elbowed some first years out of the way and the saw that a new notice had been put up. It was about the groups for the excursion. Hermione ran here finger down the sheet until she came to her list.

_Group VII - Professor Snape_

_Ciel Belledévre_

_Brie Chevin_

_Vincent Crabbe_

_Gabrielle Delacour_

_Gregory Goyle_

_Hermione Granger_

_Draco Malfoy_

_Pansy Parkinson_

_Harry Potter_

_Persia Renard_

_Ranger Truman_

_Ginny Weasley_

_Ronald Weasley_

_Blaise Zabini_

"_What_?" Ron gaped. "We can't have slytherin's in our dorm with us! They'll curse us in our sleep! They'll put poison in the cereal! With Snape as group leader as well! We have that prat Ciel in with us too! I have to go and see Professor McGonagall about this!" He stormed out of the portrait hole, and Harry and Hermione had to push through loads of people to follow him.

As they approached McGonagall's office, they saw Ron standing outside, looking terrified. They peeked in through the door and saw Malfoy, fists clenched, shouting at McGonagall, who was sitting with her arms crossed, looking angry.

"-- _and worst of all I will have to face Granger, and I really don't want too do that anymore, I see too much of her already in those dumb potion brewing sessions! I willl _not _go in an apartment with them!"_ Malfoy stopped, out of breath and seemed to realise that he'd been shouting at a professor. "I'm sorry, Professor." He said. "My anger overcame me. But I really would much rather not go in a dorm with Potter and Co. Is that in any way possible?" He ended, controlled now and businesslike again.

"Mr Malfoy, I have two things to say to you." McGonagall began. "Firstly, if you ever speak that way to me, or to any other teacher, ever again, I will suspend you. As it is I am giving you a weeks detention when we get back. Secondly, no, I will not change the groups. All of you will be together, Dumbledore insisted, and the Headmaster's word is final. I think he hopes that this trip may alter some of your feelings towards Mr Potter and his friends."

Malfoy snorted, and Harry privately agreed with him, he doubted whether living in such close quarters wouldn't push them over the edge. "That's my final word, Mr Malfoy. Good day." Malfoy turned on his heel and strode out of her office, almost bumping into Ron.

"_Watch it, Weasley"_ He hissed and headed off down the corridor towards the dungeons. Ron looked at Harry and Hermione, who looked back. Ron's face was empty, expressionless. All that could be said had been said. For two whole weeks they would be trapped with Malfoy and his gang, and it looked like the slytherins were as appalled as themselves.

It was going to be one hell of a fortnight.

SGSGSGS

An air of futility hung over all of their actions that week. They packed their bags in a stupor, every item reminding them that they would be stuck in close quarters with the people who they hated most in Hogwarts. On the last day Harry called an emergency meeting to try and work out a survival plan.

Hary, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Brie and Gabrielle were all sitting round a table in the common room. Hermione had large grey patches under her eyes from stress, Ginny, Gabrielle and Brie looked exhausted from lack of sleep, Ron was actually snoring and Harry was pacing feverishly. Suddenly he sat down in an armchair and kicked Ron to wake him up.

"Ok everyone, we all know that this isn't going to be pretty. But we are being forced into it, and we need to promise each other to be civil to _them, _even if they're not civil to us.

"If they get really bad, then we go and see a teacher, not Snape, because he'll side with them, someone else. We tell them that the slytherins are being unreasonably nasty and that we havent done anything to them.

"They will have to do something about it if Malfoy and his gang are extremely annoying us without provocation." Harry looked round at them all. "So, are we agreed?"

A series of mumbled "Yes" echoed back and Harry slumped back in his chair. Whatever anyone said, it was going to be a long two weeks. He just hoped Malfoy would be at least half-civil.

SGSGSGS

Draco Malfoy, in question was having a similar discussion with his 'friends'. "Listen, you guys. If we mess this up, we'll have no chance at all of doing anything over christmas, we'll have so many detentions.

"I'm already going to be cutting it fine with McGonagall, if we get _more _time out then we won't be able to leave because we'll be in security. So, much as we might hate to do so, we have to be civil to them.

"And if I hear anyone has made disruptions and if anyone gets caught up so that they are unavailable when we need to go, well, lets say that we won't wait for them." He glowered at them. "Understood?"

Everyone nodded, Crabbe and Goyle somewhat reluctantly. Draco sighed. "Good. Even if they do turn nasty, we have to keep out of trouble, that way when the teachers are looking for accomplices we're not targets."

Draco knew that something was going to happen in these next two weeks. He had had the same feeling before that disasterous potion brewing evening with Granger.

_No, don't think about her. _Draco told himself fiercely._ If you are going to make it unscathed through these two weeks then you have to ignore her completely. She means nothing to you, she never can, she never will. _Hopefully.

SGSGSGS

The next morning the Gryffindor troupe made their way to the school gates, at the unearthly time of 3:00. They were to be travelling by muggle coaches, so that they would not attract suspicion for the muggles they were living near. The coaches were small, cramped and musty, and when they were told that they would be sharing a coach with the Slytherins they seemed even worse.

Hermione was sitting next to Harry, with her bag under the seat, and was feeling very slightly claustrophobic at the thought of being stuck in a small coach with The Slytherins, and especially Draco, for eight hours. They were due to arrive in the town of Elmsdale at around midday, when they would move their bags in and get settled, before going out for lunch to give them a chance to see the town.

She took a deep breath and felt a little of the worry slip away from her. Hermione glanced round and saw that Ron and Gabrielle were whispering. Ginny was sitting next to the window with Brie on her other side. They were sitting in silence but Ginny looked pained. Brie's face was blank. Harry was gazing out of the window, lost in thought. She reached out and touched his face. He started and looked round.

"Hey. Are you alright?" She asked.

"Sure." Harry sighed. "I'm trying not to think about what we'll have to put up with over the next two weeks. It's quite hard." He gave her a faint smile and turned back to staring out of the window.

Hermione sighed too. Harry was becoming so unresponsive. She supposed it must be because of the stress of knowing he was going to be attacked, but with no idea of when or where. It could also be the prospect of two weeks of Slytherins, she mused. She looked round to see what they were all doing.

Crabbe and Goyle were playing a punching game where, as far as she could make out, the idea was to make the other one's arm go numb. However, they both seemed to be grinning trollishly, so she supposed they must find it fun.

Pansy and her friend, Persia or something, were whispering and reading a Magazine which looked like it could be Witch Weekly, as it was rather pink and seemed to have a picture of a very pretty blonde witch on the front.

The two french exchange boys and Blaise Zabini were involved in a complex discussion about Quidditch. Ciel was looking haughty and annoyed, Ranger was looking nervous, and Zabini was apparently disagreeing violently with something Ciel had just said.

Malfoy however was nowhere to be seen. She glanced over Harry's shoulder and saw him walking down with Snape, both looking slightly damp as it had just started to rain. She watched as they broke into a run and saw Malfoy come into the coach, more than just wet now, he was soaked, and breathing heavily.

Snape performed drying charms on himself and Malfoy, and then Malfoy went to sit down next to Zabini. He looked over at her, and stared for a second, their eyes meeting each others.

Then they both realised that they were looking at each other and stopped. Hermione pulled out her headphones and put on her favorite track, trying to forget about Malfoy as the music filled her head.

_"When the music plays,_

_All is stripped away,_

_And I simply come,"_

Oh how she wished life was simple, so that each day could just be approached one at a time, with no worries or confusions.

_"Longing just to bring, _

_Something thats of worth,_

_To you, My hearts desire."_

Who was her hearts desire? She had been so certain it was Harry, but when he was being so sullen she did wonder if they really were meant to be.

_"I'll give you more than a song,_

_I'll give you myself_

_I'll give you all that I am."_

But how could she give all of herself when some of herself was uncertain, when she wasn't sure exactly how much of what she was belonged to her, and who it might belong to.

_"Search deep within me,_

_Expose all of me,_

_I want you to know what I am."_

What would happen if someone ever found out everything about her. Even she wan't quite sure about some of the stuff in her life. How could she just expose it all?

The chorus swelled and haunting melodies filled her head.

_"It matters not about the past,_

_I do not care about the future,_

_So long as you are in it._

_I will forsake all that came last,_

_I will renounce my fame and power, _

_If I can stay till it is finished."_

One day she hoped she could meet someone with whom every second would be precious, with whom the world would come to a standstill with no past or future, only present.

She closed her eyes and leant back in the seat, and let them music wash over her, filling her up.

---

Draco watched Hermione Granger out of the corner of his eye for the whole trip. He joined in with Zabini and argued about Quidditch and even pretended to be interested in Pansy's magazine. But he always had a pressure on him, a faint itch which drove him gradually insane by the end of the long, long journey.

When they finally reached their destination, Draco got out of the coach and got his first glimpse of the building which was to be his home for the next two weeks.

It was a small, rather wonky looking flat. The floors seemed to jut out all over the place and several windows were broken or boarded up. There was a small garden which was a mass of weeds, nettles and dandilions.

The Slytherins were all dumbstruck. Surely they couldn't be expected to live in a hovel like this for a whole fortnight? The Gryffindors seemd to have put on a brave face about the whole thing and were taking bags out of the back of the coach.

Grumbling, the Slytherins went round as well. They lugged they heavy cases onto the ground, and Draco, Pansy and Ranger had already taken out their wands to levitate their bags inside, when Snape hissed at them to put their wands away.

"The point of this excursion, Mr Malfoy, is to live _without magic_. If any muggles see you doing any magic, you will be severely punished and it will mean a lot of time and effort wasted by the ministry."

Grumbling even more, they all carried their bags inside, and found a notice pinned to the inside of the front door.

_To the residents'_

_The room plans are as follows._

_Floor 2 - _

_Miss Hermione Granger_

_Miss Gabrielle Delacour_

_-_

_Miss Ginny Weasley_

_Miss Brie Chevin_

_-_

_Miss Persia Renard_

_Miss Pansy Parkinson_

_Floor 1 -_

_Mr Draco Malfoy _

_Mr Blaise Zabini_

_-_

_Mr Ranger Truman_

_Mr Ciel Belledevré_

_Ground Floor -_

_Mr Harry Potter_

_Mr Ronald Weasley_

_Basement - _

_Mr Vincent Crabbe_

_Mr Gregory Goyle_

_-_

_Professor Severus Snape_

_There are unfortunately a few rules that must be kept in order that you have the most agreeable time possible._

_1) No boys in the girls dormitories after 8:00, and visa versa_

_2) You must sleep in the room assigned to you, no sleepovers_

_3) You must obey the teacher in charge, at all times._

_Be aware that we are giving out full responibility for your actions. It is up to you to make sure you have the most fun possible. _

_Good Luck._

_Professor M. McGonagall._

Harry and Ron put their suitcases in the small double bedroom on the ground floor, hearing the thumping overhead as everyone else moved in on their respective floors.

As they unpacked their clothes Harry was thinking about Hermione. She was acting really strangely, as if she was pre-occupied with something else. He suspected it might have something to do with being stuck in a flat withher worst enemies for two weeks, but he couldnt see how that could have had so much effect on her.

Privately he wondered whether there was something, or possibly even someone else, who was the cause of her distress. Anyway he had resolved to keep his distance and give her some breathing room until she calmed down again. He thought back to their argument after the others had gone to bed the previous night.

---

Author's note: Well, I hope my first non-beta-ed chapter was okay. If anyone out there feels like betaing this then I will be very and extremely grateful.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: **All's Fair in Love and War

**Author:** Silverhair Theory

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. If you sue me, all you'll get is my sweet stash and my teddy bear, and he bites. I wouldn't advise it.

**Chapter 5**

_Harry sat with his head in his hands, eyes closed, watching the patterns of light on the back of his eyelids as he pressured them with his palms. He knew Hermione was reading a book in the armchair next to him, and Ron was looking at the fire, he could hear him drumming his hands on the arm of the chair._

_Ron gave a yawn and Harry heard him stand up. "Well, I'm turning in." He said, tiredly. "See you tomorrow." His footsteps thumped across the floor and Harry heard him enter the stairwell._

_He glannced up from behind his hands. Hermione still had the book in front of her, but he noticed her eyes werent moving. She opened her mouth._

_"Harry, I need to talk to you." Hermione said. Harry tensed and closed his eyes again. He knew that this wasn't going to be good. He heard her put the book down._

_"Harry, I think something is wrong." She sounded troubled. "I cant tell what is wrong, but I want to make it right, okay? Please, Harry, I want you to let me make it right. Will you let me?" _

_Harry nodded, slightly confused. If she thought something was wrong with her, that wasn't good, obviously, but why did she need his permission to solve the problem?_

_"Please Harry, tell me what's wrong." What was she doing, Harry wondered. He didn't know what was wrong with her, why was she asking him?_

_"I don't know what's wrong, Hermione." Harry said, slowly. "Do you know?" _

_"No, how can I tell what's wrong!" Hermione sounded annoyed. "You're the one that has something wrong with them!" _

_Me? Harry thought incredulously, and put his hands down, staring at Hermione. "What? There's nothing wrong with me! What are you talking about?" _

_Hermione looked confused and exasperated. "Harry, its obvious something is wrong! You sit there, with your head in your hands, and tell me nothing is wrong!" Harry noticed her voice was getting slightly high-pitched. _

_"I don't know what you're talking about! I'm fine!" Harry was getting quite annoyed now. "There must be something wrong with you!"_

_"Me?" Hermione cried. "What could possibly be worng with me?" She was beginning to look thunderous and it took a lot of courage for Harry to answer back. He sighed._

_"Every time you come back from those potion sessions with Malfoy you seem really irritable and snappy." Things that had been nagging him for weeks surfaced in his mind. "How long is this potion going to take? I don't want you at my throat all the time for any longer than necessary, and i'm sure Ron doesn't either!" Harry was shouting now, but this only seemed to make Hermione more irate._

_"You don't know what it's like, having to work with him!" Hermione shrieked. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ron standing open mouthed at the entrance to the boys dorms. "He insults me, he insult my hair, my blood, my family, everything!" She had angry tears coming out of the corners of her eyes now. "Then you have the nerve to go and imply its MY fault when I come back in a terrible mood!"_

_Harry was shocked. He had guessed Hermione wasn't enjoying her potion sessions when she had come back from the first one crying her eyes out. Since that she had been cagey and prone to biting people's heads off if asked the tiniest question about the time spent in the dungeons. He had known she had been stressed but surely Malfoy couldn't have had _that _much of an effect on her. Something else must be bothering her too..._

_"Hermione, I understand you are pissed off with Malfoy, he annoys me too. But for Merlin's sake, please don't take your anger out on me!" Harry was seriously annoyed now._

_"Why are you being so defensive about it! You are _supposed_ to be my boyfriend, why can't you be more supportive!" Hermione said, crying freely now. Harry felt suddenly extremely uncomfortable and he saw Ron take a step forward into the room._

_"Look Hermione, maybe we should give each other some room, some time to get our breath back, from all this stuff with Malfoy, especially now we have to deal with the other Slytherins too." He felt that he was ruining something, but he just couldnt stop."Maybe we should stop being boyfriend and girlfriend, maybe just relax for a few days. We can see how we feel after the trip." He looked at Hermione, who nodded._

_"Alright Harry." Hermione sighed, her face still red. "We better sit together on the coach tomorrow though, I don't think it will be good if Malfoy knows something is up."_

_"Ok then." Harry said, and looked up at her face, which had large bags under the eyes, and was blotchy from crying. "I think you need your beauty sleep." He gently picked her up and carried her in his arms over to the entrance to the girls dorms, where he put her down. _

_She smiled sleepily and climbed up and out of sight. Then Harry went back over to the boys staircase where Ron was still standing, open mouthed._

_"I don't want to talk about it." He said grumpily and pushed past Ron, stomped up the stair and drew the hangings round his bed, falling asleep almost immediately, ignoring the fact that he was still in his clothes._

Harry sighed. Ron looked over with a sympathetic face. "You thinkin' about last night?" He asked.

"Yeah." Harry said. "Ron, what do I do? I thought she was the one for me, but how can she be so...what's the word...I don't know, in-sensitive?"

"I dunno mate." Ron shrugged. "I think you need something to take your mind off it. Maybe you could find a local muggle girl you like?" He pointed out of the only non-cracked window, where a group of girls was walking along, chatting and laughing. "How about one of those?"

"You make them sound like they're products, things to be picked up and used, then dropped when you've had enough." Harry said angrily.

"Hey mate, It was only a suggestion!" Ron said, defensively. Then he slumped. "I'm sorry. I know what you mean. I would hate it if anyone talked about Gab... I mean, anyone who I liked like that." He lay down on the bed, having unpacked all his stuff. "I really like her Harry. I don't know what to do."

"Ask Hermione. She always knows what to do." Harry said. "Just don't tell her I told you to ask her."

SGSGSGS

The village hall struck twelve, and Draco sighed and kicked his drawer shut. He and Blaise met Pansy and Pesria coming down the stairs, Blaise thumped Ranger and Ciel's door to tell them it was time to go. Pansy took Draco's arm and dragged him down the stairs to the hallway, where Potter and Weasley were just emerging from their dorm.

Snape came up the stairs from the basement, looking very strange in his muggle clothes. He took a checklist from his trouser pocket and looked round at them all and then upstairs as Ranger, Ciel and the Gryffindor girls came down the stairs.

"Miss Granger, could you go up and see where Miss Chevin and Miss Delacour are." Snape drawled. "Mr Zabini, please go down and wake up Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle, I think they may have fallen asleep."

Indeed, Draco could hear loud snores coming from the basement. He tried to hide a grin, and instead turned it into a smile for Pansy, who smiled back and squeezed his hand.

Soon Granger was back with the french girls, and after Snape had gone down to get them, Crabbe and Goyle appeared, looking mutinous.

Snape led them out of the door, and they walked to the local café, a small faded blue and peeling white shop, called the _Dusky Elm. _

_More like the _Dusty_ Elm. _Malfoy thought. The chairs were ricketty and the tables were in need of a good clean. Ancient pots of drooping flowers sat on each table, tattered cloths hang off the walls.

Draco saw Pansy brush a finger across one of the tabletops and look disgusted when a thick layer of grey came off in her hand. She brushed it on her blouse, then looked horrified as she realised she had got her expensive top dirty.

Draco suppressed a laugh. Pansy was about his third favorite person in the world, like a little sister in many ways, but Lucius had had plans for her and Draco since they had been born. They would always be attatched somehow.

Snape made them all sit down. The Gryffindors and the french girls, who Draco was coming to think of as honorary Gryffs, all sat at one table and started to exchange opinions about various items on the tacky laminated menus.

The Slytherins all sat down together with Ranger and Ciel, who were almost worthy of the honorary Slytherin title, and glared at the menus. Snape sat on his own.

Draco looked down the menu. It was all pretty dire, things like "_Liver and Onion Surprise","Sardine Sandwich_","_Asparagus Cake_" and so on. All of the Slytherins were looking equally disgusted.

Looking over at the Gryffindor table, Draco saw that Granger had produced paper and a ball-point pen from nowhere and was writing down everyone's orders. He turned away.

Snape seemed to have decided what he was having, and obviously thought everyone else must have too. He strode over to the Gryffindor table and was presente with the small square of neat writing which told him everything he wanted to know. He looked sour and came over to the Slytherin table.

The girls chose the "_Warm Mackerel Salad_", presumably because it had the word "Salad" in it and so, according to female logic must be healthy. What it actually turned out to be was a few limp slices of lettuce, large chunks of lukewarm fish and lots of a strange sauce which Draco suspected was a house recipe, as he had never seen anything so disgusting ever before..

Crabbe and Goyle chose something called the "_House Fry-up_" which sounded exactly like what it was, enormous, extremely greasy and covered in that same weird sauce.

Draco, Blaise, Ranger and Ciel had all consulted each other and decided on the "_Breaded Vegetables_" because it sounded at least slightly edible and possibly even healthy. That turned out to be a lot of burnt vegetables, mostly sprouts, covered in moudly breadcrumbs. Calling it foul would have been an understatement.

The Slytherin's only comfort was that the Gryffindors seemed to be having just as much trouble with the food as they were. Snape seemed to have taken the only sensible way out, and ordered a coffee.

After struggling through the food, the group headed back to the flat. Snape seemed to want to say something.

"Now, you have all had a taste of the local neighborhood." He said. "And I must tell you now that I will not be here to babysit you all the time over the next few weeks. I must go back to Hogwarts, and will only be visiting you once every two days.

"I am leaving now, but I will tell you now that a ward has been placed on this whole neighborhood, so that we shall be informed of any magic you do.

"There is actually a barrier on this house to stop magic being performed in any of the rooms. If any of you do do magic, you know of the Decree for Underage Wizardry, and shall be punished as appropriate."

He eyes lingered on Harry, who felt a rush of colour in his cheeks as he realised that Snape, must know about his past charges, indeed, he must have heard about his trial in front of the Wizengamot, if gossip travelled as fast among the teachers at Hogwarts as it did among the students.

"Goodbye, and Good Luck." The last comment seemed to be directed at the Slytherins, but the Gryffindors did not expect anything less. Snape nodded, and apparated.

The second he had disappeared Harry stepped forward. "Look guys." He said. The Slytherins all glowered at him. "I think we can all agree that this house could use some work. I propose we organise a duty list, to at least try and get it fit to live in."

The Gryffindors all mumbled appriciateively, and even the Slytherins muttered in agreement. Pansy spoke up. "Look Potter, it's all very well you saying that, but I dont think people are actually going to _volunteer_ to wash up, do you?" She gave a nasty little laugh.

"Dont be dumb, Pansy." Malfoy said. "We won't have to wash up, the house elf will do _that."_ He frowned at her.

"Uh, hate to burst your bubble, Malfoy, but no magic means no house elves." Ron said, almost gleefully. "I'm afraid that we will indeed have to wash up all by ourselves."

"_What_?" Malfoy said, stunned. Crabbe, Ciel and Zabini were all looking horrified as well. "You mean we'll have to do manual labour and stuff?"

"Of course." Pansy said with a slight titter. "Didn't you know that?" She shrank away as Malfoy gave her one of his famous stares.

Harry coughed, nervously. "So anyway, I drew up a list while I was supposed to be eating that muck they told us was food..." Harry gave a slight involuntary shudder, mirrored by a couple of other people. "I'll stick it on the fridge, and people can sign up for what they want to do." He turned around and walked into the kitchen.

People, sensing that the conversation was over, started milling away back to theirs dorms. Draco whispered to Pansy as they climbed the stairs.

"Pansy... _What's a fridge?"_

SGSGSGS

The next morning Harry emerged yawning out of his dorm at around 7:30, leaving Ron to snore. He went to the fridge where he had pinned the sheet of paper and saw that some people had already written their names on it.

So far, it looked like this:

_Shopping for food: Hermione Granger , _

_Gardening: Ginny Weasley , Brie Chevin_

_Emptying rubbish bin: _

_Tidying common areas: Ron Weasley , Gabrielle Delacour_

_Tidying boys rooms, _

_Tidying girls rooms: Pansy Parkinson , Persia Renard_

_Painting front of house: Vincent Crabbe , Gregory Goyle , Blaise Zabini_

He grinned at the thought of Ron and Gabrielle working together. Surely Ron would overcome his worries during long cleaning sessions with Gabrielle? Harry decided he would be as encouraging as possible.

He looked at the remaining jobs and with a sigh put himself next to Hermione for shopping. He knew that they were the best to to do it, as they were the only ones who had the faintest idea how to use muggle money and muggle shops.

He wondered who, out of Ciel, Ranger and Malfoy would end up emptying the rubbish. Personally, he hoped it was Malfoy.

A sound from the hallway suddenly distracted him.

He went out to see what it was, and stopped dead in his tracks.

SGSGSGS

Hermione's alarm went off, and she groaned before sitting up and turning it off, and rubbed her eyes.

It took a moment before she realised where she was, and then she remembered. The run down house, the Slytherins, Harry, Malfoy...

She noticed Gabrielle had already got up, an a note had been pinned to the door.

_Dear Herm, _it said.

_Good Morning sleepy head! _

_I have gone out with Ginny and Brie, we are going to have a proper look round this town. _

_See you when we get back!_

_Gabby_

Hermione yawned again. She looked at the clock. It was 8:30. She slowly got dressed into a pair of blue jeans and a ruffled white blouse. Then she got out her hair brush and went downstairs, brushing her hair as she went.

She took a quick look into the kitchen and skim read the jobs list. She sighed as she saw Harry had put his name down next to hers. She knew that it would all end in tears. _I sound like my mother._ Hermione said to herself, and made a mental note to be more positive. Maybe she'd meet a nice muggle boy to take her mind off Harry.

She knocked on Harry and Ron's door, and when she recieved no answer, she peeked in. Ron was lying snoring on his bed in his blue flannel pyjamas, and Harry was nowhere to be seen. Unsure of whether she was happy or sad about this, she closed the door.

Hermione then went into the sitting room where she picked up the TV remote and flicked through the channels. Television was something she missed when she was at Hogwarts, as the high levels of magic caused all electrical appliances to fail. She found a discovery program about some ancient civilisation and curled up in a chair to watch.

SGSGSGS

Draco, as has been stated before, was not a morning person. He had grumpily got out of bed, pulled on some clothes and was now standing in front of the thing Pansy had said was the "fridge" with some uncertainty.

He slowly opened the door, and got a shock when cold air hit him in the face. He quickly closed the door again, but not without noticing that there was no food inside it.

He stomped into the sitting room, where Granger was watching a black box with moving pictures on it. Fascinated, he forgot about his stomach and sat down on a chair next to her.

"What is it?" Draco asked, awed. "I thought we weren't allowed magic on site?" Granger giggled, which he didn't find as annoying as he should have done.

"It's called a television." She said. "You use this..." She picked up a black plastic rectangle with lots of different coloured buttons on. "To change the channel."

She pressed one of the buttons, and to Draco's amazement the picture on the black box changed. It had been a man standing in front of a very old temple. Now it was some people running about on a big green field with white lines on, kicking a ball, while lots of other people sat in seats round the edge of the field and cheered.

"_Wow_!" Draco said. "Can I have a go?" Granger laughed again and handed him the little square rectangle.

"That's called a remote." She said. Draco looked at the remote. It had ten buttons with 0-9 on it, some coloured ones, some other ones which had strange symbols, which looked a bit like runes, and one big red one which had circle with a line inside it on.

"What do they all do?" He asked.

"Well," Granger said, leaning over, "The numbered ones change the channel. Its on channel four at the moment, but if you change it to channel three..." She pressed the button with the number three on and the picture on the television changed back to the man in front of the temple.

Darco was awestruck. He went through all of the buttons, making the picture change from one "channel" to another. He particularly liked one one which there were a number of cartoon animals who seemed to be going round a large farm, and looking for what appeared to be another cartoon animal, apparently a sheep called Gilbert.

"That's _Trencreek Farm." _Granger said. "I used to watch that when I was four." She and Draco watched Trencreek farm for a while, and saw the farm animals eventually discover Gilbert the sheep hiding under the farmers bed, beacuse he didn't want to be sheared.

As the credit rolled Draco said "That was amazing. I have never seen anything like that ever before. You say that almost all muggles have one of these?"

"Yes." Hermione said, smiling. "I have one, everyone I know has one. Everyone who is a muggle, that is. I think Harry's Aunt and Uncle have one in almost every room."

_Every room. _Draco tried to imagione what Malfoy Manor would be like with a television in every room. He couldn't. _Father would most certainly not approve. _At the thought of what his father would say to _Trencreek Farm_, Draco winced.

What?" Granger said. She looked surprisingly concerned, considering that she was talking to a Slytherin, and especially to him.

"Nothing." He said, and then remembered what he had come in to ask her in the first place. "Why isn't there any food in the fridge?"

"Because neither Harry nor I have been shopping yet. I was going to go after my program, but I expect it finished while we were watching _Trencreek Farm._"

She clicked the number three button and the man on the temple had indeed been replaced by a woman talking about dolphins. Oh well." She grinned ruefully. "I think i'll go out now then. See you later."

She smiled at Draco, and Draco felt his heart do a funny flippy thing as she walked out of the room. "Oh and by the way, you still need to sign up on the jobs list." She called from the hallway. He heard the front door slam a few minutes later, and went to sit back down and watch some more of the television.

Hermione was walking home from the corner shop, carrying four large plastic bags full of food. She had got a variety of things, mostly stuff that could be eaten from the packet, and therefore wouldn't produce any washing up.

As she walked past the park, she heard shouting, and looked up the alleyway to the small park and field that the local kids hung around in. There were some boys playing football, and she saw Ginny, Gabrielle and Brie sitting on the fence watching them and talking.

She jogged the last couple of blocks, and rang the door bell of the house. Malfoy opened the door and let her in, looking surprised that she'd bought so much stuff.

"How'd you afford all that?" He asked.

Hermione pointed to an envelope by the door, on a small table. "Every two days, when Snape visits us, he leaves some muggle money for food supplies. I took it out of there." She went into the kitchen and started stacking stuff into the fridge. Malfoy hung back, wary.

"Why is the fridge cold?" He asked. Hermione giggled again.

"Its because it keeps the food fresh. I know in wizarding houses the food can be kept fresh with spells, but for muggles they have to use a fridge." Malfoy looked like he understood because he came forward and started helping her put things on the shelves.

Their hands brushed against each other, and Hermione pulled away. Malfoy's hands were freezing, colder than the inside of the fridge. He looked at her, puzzled. She shook her head and carried on putting stuff in.

When all the food was stowed away she put the plastic bags on the worksurface and turned around. Malfoy was watching her, a strange look in his eyes.

"What?" Hermione asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I was just thinking how you..." Malfoy mumbled, in a daze. His eyes suddenly focused and he visibly shook himself. "Nothing." He fixed a scowl on his face and walked out.

Hermione was puzzled, but sighed and put all the non-fridge foods away before going back outside into the late morning sunlight and walking round to the park area where she had seen the other girls earlier.

Ginny, Brie and Gabrielle greeted her. "Hey!" Gabrielle called. "Come join us, we're looking at all the eye candy." She indicated the playing boys, quite a few of whom had their shirts off, and grinned wickedly.

"See any you like the look of, Herm?" Ginny said, giggling. Hermione leant on the fence next to the others, and regarded the footballers with interest. _If it takes my mind of Harry..._ She found herself thinking.

There were, actually, quite a few decent boys on the field, though most of them were too far away to inspect properly, and anyway, they kept moving.

"Do you know any of their names or anything?" She asked.

"Some of them. They shout at each other a lot, we can usually pick up their names from that. We haven't actually spoken to them, if thats what you mean."

"Right. Who's that one? The one in the light blue jeans next to the goalposts?" She pointed and all four of them stared at the boy for a moment.

He was fairly tall, taller than Hermione at any rate, and had well defined legs, especially his calf muscles. He had a light tan, paler than Harry, but darker than Malfoy. He had quite a nice chest and strong arms, but without being too muscly. His hair was a very strange colour, it was very very light blonde, but with a sort of grey shade, like his hair was covered in dust. It was floppy and fell over his eyes and high cheekbones.

"I think his name's Gareth. Yes, Gareth, I'm almost certain. You like him?" Gabrielle turned with a cheeky grin on her face.

Hermione blushed slightly. "Yeah, I suppose." She looked down at the floor and her hair fell around her, obscuring her from the others.

"It's ok Herm, don't feel guilty because you're being unfaithful to Harry or anything like that." Ginny looked sympathetic. "It's just a crush."

Hermione looked up and smiled, but Ginny was almost certain she saw a flash of pain when Harry's name was mentioned. She made a mental note to ask Harry what was going on beetween them.

A shout was heard from the pitch, and Hermione looked up just in time to see Gareth score a spectacular goal. He grinned as his teammates flocked around him and his grin widened when he realised that some of the girls on the sidelines were cheering him.

He pushed back his hair and walked over to them, picking up his shirt and making it clear to his teammates that he was no longer playing. They shrugged and turned back to the game.

He checked out the girls as he walked over. They were all fairly good looking, though red hair wasn't really his taste. The blonde just wasn't his type and the raven haired girl was simply looking at him with nochalance, so she was already down as a lost cause.

The brunette, however, was something else. He pushed to the back of his mind the fact that she had been the only one not clapping and gave her a smile. She smiled slightly in return, but turned her head away.

He reached them. "So, ladies" _Always begin with a compliment._ He told himself. "You're all looking rather beautiful today." The red head and the blonde giggled, the raven stared impassively but the brunette did not turn her head.

"I haven't seen you around here before. My name is Gareth. What are your names?" He looked round at them all.

"I'm Gabrielle." The blonde said, smiling.

"My name's Ginny." The redhead said, and nudged the raven.

"Eef you must know," The raven said with and unmistakeable french accent. "The name's Brie." She glowered at him, as if daring him to pass a comment. No comments were passed.

They all looked expectantly at the brunette, who sighed. "Hermione." She said, shortly. Gareth tried the name out, experimentally.

"Her-my-er-nee." She glared at him. He tried again. "Herm-eye-nee?" More glaring. "Hermy-own?"

"Oh for goodness sake, its Her-my-oh-nee!" She exploded, stood up and stalked away, muttering. Gareth was slightly taken aback, and looked at the other girls for assistance. They simply shrugged, but the raven girl seemed to be almost enjoying his discomfort. Ignoring her, he pulled on his shirt and, without really knowing why, set off at a jog down the alleyway to find her.

---

Hermione sat down on a bench near the flat and put her head in her hand, forcing back tears. Why she should be crying, she didnt even know,she shouldn't care, he was just a stupid boy.

But she had spoiled everything. He had actually come over, tried to talk to her, even teased her a bit. She could see it had been teasing now, but it annoyed her so much when people mis-pronounced her name.

That wasn't the only thing bothering her though. All of the tension between her and Harry seemed to be pressing against her, she knew that she shouldn't feel guilty about simply thinking about dating someone else, but she did, and it was making her heart ache by resisting.

Perhaps it was because silent tears had begun to flow from her eyes, or because she was shaking slightly, that she didn't realise that he was there until he put his arm around her.

She sat up, shocked. There he was, with his shirt on now, looking concernedly at her through his blue, blue eyes, so unlike Harry's. They stared at each other, his arm raised where she had shrugged him off. Then he spoke.

"Look, I'm sorry about saying your name wrong. I wasn't trying to annoy you, I was trying to tease you. Please accept my apology." He gazed at her sadly.

Through tear edged eyes she looked at him, trying to see whether he was telling the truth or not. She decided to believe that he was.

"I'm sorry too." She said, quietly. "It was very rude of me to run away like that. I'll forgive you for saying my name wrong if you forgive me."

"Agreed." He smiled. "So, where are you from? You're not from around here, I can tell."

Hermione explained to him about the excursion, leaving out any details about magic or muggle studies or anything like that, for obvious reasons. Gareth actually seemed quite interested. She pointed out to him the flat they were staying in.

He was such an easy person to talk to, to tell things to, and she found herself telling him who was sleeping on which floor, who was doing which jobs, how she and Harry had to go shopping for food...

When she mentioned Harry her eyes welled up again and she looked down. She felt a soft finger on her chin, and it brought her up to look into those startlingly blue eyes.

"Who's Harry, and what has he dont that's made you so sad. Because whatever he's done I want to get him for, for making you cry." It was such a sweet thing to say that Hermione leant on his shoulder, and after a surprised jolt he wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair, saying soothing things to her as she sobbed on his shoulder.

After a while Hermione stopped and felt very embarassed. "Here I am crying on you and I dont even know you! You must think i'm really weird." She looked down so that her hair fell over her face again.

She felt strong but gentle hands pull her up again. Gareth had fixed her again with her piercing blue eyes. She was swimming in his eyes, the colour washing round her...

"Listen, Hermione." Gareth was talking. She snapped out of her daydream and listened. "Why don't you and your girlfriends come dancing with us tomorrow evening? We'll have a great time, I know this really good club, it's not far from here. What do you say? Something to take your mind off this Harry guy?"

She had to admit it sounded tempting. She nodded and gave him a small smile which he grinned at.

"Come on," He said, taking her hand. Hermione felt her fingers tingle where they touched his. "Lets go and ask your friends." And they walked hand in hand back towards the alleyway to the park.

Had they looked behind them, they might have seen a face disappear from one of the ground floor windows. Had Hermione not been focused entirely on the hand she was holding, she might have heard the click as a window closed.

Unfortunately, they didn't, and she was.

---

Author's Note: Ooohhh, cliffhanger. Can you guess whose watching them? Review!


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: **All's Fair in Love and War

**Author:** Silverhair Theory

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. If you sue me, all you'll get is my sweet stash and my teddy bear, and he bites. I wouldn't advise it.

**Chapter 6**

The night air was cool and fresh as Hermione, Gabrielle, Ginny, Brie, Pansy and Persia shut the front door quietly and went down the garden path. They had waited until the boys were all safely in their rooms before sneaking out.

Pansy and Persia were there because of a conversation overheard by Pansy when Gabrielle and Hermione had been preparing the dinner. She had barged in and demanded to be told the whole story.

In a spirit of friendship, Gabrielle had explained all about Gareth and his invitation to the nightclub. Pansy had liked the idea extremely and before long Hermione had found herself discussing with Pansy, Persia and the rest of the girls a plan on how to get out the following evening and go dancing, without alerting the boys.

Persia had unexpectedly come up with a plan, which was in fact quite good. The Gryffindor girls had all gone along with her, and now it about eleven o'clock. The boys had all gone to bed earlier, and faint snores could be heard through the floorboards. There were particularly loud snores coming from underneath Brie and Ginny's room, which was over Ron and Harry. Ginny had said Ron could snore the Ministry of Magic down. Hermione didn't doubt it.

They had all gone to their rooms as normal, but as soon as all creaking sounds had stopped from the lower floors they had changed into their party clothes and had sneaked out together.

The garden, or small squares of grass either side of the garden path, was wet with dew. Most was overgrown but there was a small section near the hedge where Ginny and Brie had been working on the terrible weeds. The hedge in that area had been pushed back a lot as well.

They set off down the road to the alleyway where Gareth and some of his friends were standing. He looked a little surprised to see six of them, and as they set off together Gareth leaned into Hermione's ear and whispered. "Who are those two girls. They weren't with you at the park, were they?"

"No." Hermione whispered back. "Their names are Pansy and Persia. They're staying in our flat as well and heard about this and wanted to come. We couldnt really have said no." She took Gareth's hand and smiled at him. "You dont mind, do you?"

"Not at all." He smiled back, squeezing her hand. "In fact, I think Jedd and Sam are rather taken with them. Good thing I brought them, eh?" He indicated the two boys, who were walking next to Pansy and Persia with expressions of rapture on their faces as Pansy wittered on about something. Persia was holding her head high, serene and composed.

They had walked quite a way, and now turned a street corner to be faced with a row of old shops, and at the end of it, a two storey warehouse which had been converted into a nioghtclub. It was called the _Final Lotus _and was beautifully painted in swirling dark blue and green colours. Blue light shone from the windows marred by shadows stirring inside, and strobe lights flickered. There were a few people milling about outside, some of whom were holding drinks, and a bouncer wearing shades at the door.

They went up to the door and Gareth flashed ID at the bouncer, who nodded and ushered them in.

The noise hit Hermione like a wave. Lights flashed in front of her eyes as she pecieved a dark swaying mass in front of her, clustered round a stage where a band was playing a song so loud she could hardly tell what type it was. The singer was shouting at the top of her voice but was still deafened by the rest of the noise. Lights were coming from various lanterns and bulbs in all colours, blinding Hermione.

They were all steered over to the bar, and Gareth went to get them a table, while the boys called Jedd and Sam ordered drinks for everyone. One of them asked Hermione what she wanted to drink, and she ordered. After a while the drink was put into her hands and they were propelled forwards again towards a small table in the corner where Gareth was waiting. They all sat down.

Hermione watched Pansy talking to the boys, Jedd and Sam, who were listening, or pretending to, with mouths open. Persia was sitting back, surveying the room from the shadows. Hermione looked at Brie, Gabrielle and Ginny.

Gabrielle was talking animatedly with another one of Gareth's friends, who was tall, dark and handsome, clichéd as it was. Brie and Ginny were not near the two other boys, but chatting to each other and giggling. The two other boys were also next to each other, but were silent.

"Do you think we should get them to talk to each other?" Hermione said quietly to Gareth, pointing out the two pairs.

"I dont think it matters." Gareth said. "Its not like Jay and Mike would be _interested_ in them." He looked at the two guys, who were simply sitting in silence.

"Why not?" Hermione asked, outraged. "Are they not pretty enough?" She was appalled that Gareth would be so rude as to insult her friends like that in front of her.

"No, no." Gareth said, smiling and putting a hand on her clenched fist. He said quietly; "Its just that, well, they're... _gay._" He gave a meaningful look at her, and she felt understanding dawn on her.

"Ohhhh." She said. "I'm sorry. I thought you were insulting them!". There was an awkward silence.

"What's your drink called, Herm?" Gabrielle asked, leaning over. "It's just that Leon here thinks it looks nice and wants to know what it is." Her tall, dark and handsome male was looking expectantly at Hermione.

"Its called a Green Eyes." Hermione said. "Its one quarter Blue Curacao, one quarter Mint liquor, one quarter Malibu and one quarter Vodka. It's served with ice." They looked at the green cloudy drink, and Gabrielle stood up.

"I'm going to get myself one." She said, and went back over to the bar.

Now that Hermione could see properly, she inspected the room again. They were in one corner, which was filled with tables, and next to the bar, which ran along one wall. On the opposite wall was the stage, which jutted out into the middle of the room. There was the door on the wall in between them and she saw in one corner some stairs, leading up and down.

The band finished their song and they were deafened by cheering. They took up another one, with more easy rhythum, simpler to dance to. Hermione felt a pressure on her hand, and heard Gareth whisper in her ear.

"Want to dance?" He said, in a low voice which sent shivers down Hermione's spine.

"Okay." She whispered back and he took her hand and led her out onto the dance floor.

They began to sway, moving with the other bodies all around them, some waving lighers, many with their hands in the air, singing along with the music, although many of them didn't know what the song even was, they sang anyway. The air was perfumed by something heavy and sweet, Hermione breathed it in and felt _alive_.

She took Gareth's hands and looked into his eyes. They were sparkling and he was smiling at her with those blue pools and his perfect mouth...

He leant forward and kissed her.

It was surreal. The world just seemed to pause around them, turning to look. Hermione felt arms wrap around her and she melted into his embrace, her lips on his.

She broke away and opened her eyes to see his blue ones only an inch away from hers. The pupils were small from the flashes, and Hermione felt as if those blue eyes were searching her soul.

She lowered her eyes from the piercing gaze, unable to take it, and snuggled up to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Gabrielle grinning at her and Ginny watching her, smiling. She saw Leon stand up and offer Gabrielle her hand, and they joined Hermione and Gareth on the dance floor.

Hermione twisted around in Gareth's arms and suddenly felt a sharp pain just below her shoulder blade, her knees giving way. Gareth caught her and guided her back to the table. He disappeared for a moment and came back with another Green Eyes, which he put next to the empty glass of the first one. The drink fizzed and bubbled.

"Drink this." He said. Hermione took a sip, and found that her body seemed to just relax as she sipped, becoming totally at home in the chair.

She watched Jedd dance with Pansy, and Sam dance with Persia, in a sort of daze as they gazed at their beautiful partners. Even on the dance floor Pansy seemed to have not stopped talking, but Persia and Sam were sort of slow dancing to the fast music, heads on each others shoulders.

Hermione saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and saw Ginny, Brie and the two gay guys, Jay and Mike, in conversation. After about a minute they all stood up, and went out and danced, Ginny with Jay, Brie with Mike. They were talking still, with each other and with the opposite partners, but Hermione couldnt tell what they were talking about.

The room seemed to be going a little hazy, and Hermione found herself leaning on Gareth's shoulder, struggling to keep her eyes open.

Gareth gently leavered her off him and got up. Hermione lay across his chair until he came back, when he put her arm round his neck and got her up.

"Come on, we're going home." He said. "I've told your friend, this way." He led her across the room and out of the door. The cold air hit Hermione in the face and she buried herself in Gareth's neck. He picked her up so she lay in his arms like a child, arms round his neck, and he carried her down the road.

Hermione didn't know how long they walked for, but when Gareth put her down it was on cool grass. She opened her eyes and stared up at the stars above them, bright eyes watching her. She looked around and saw Gareth lying next to her on the grass, arms folded behind his head, looking at her.

They stared at each other for a long time. Hermione felt like she was drowning in his eyes, the bright blue pools of water sucking her in.

Gareth got up on his elbows and kissed her.

It was just like before. The night stopped and turned to watch them, kissing on the grass. Hermione felt Gareth move and when he pulled away his hot breath was coming from straight above her. She opened her eyes and saw him on all fours over her. His eyes were blazing as he leaned in for another kiss.

She felt his tongue on her lips, and opened her mouth to him. He licked her teeth, and light flickered on the back of her eyelids. She reached up and put her arms round his neck, savouring the taste of his lips and tongue. They tasted of alchohol, but whether it was his drink or hers she was tasting she couldn't tell, and frankly, didn't care.

Suddenly she felt his hands caressing her neck. He had such smooth hands, perfect nails, with no sharp edges to scratch her with. He moved his hands like a masseur, brushing over pressure points, stroking her neck. The tension in her shoulders loosened up and she lay, perfectly content in his arms.

His mouth joined his hands and she felt his hot breath on her neck as he kissed her skin, butterfly style, the light pressure making her gasp. The hands moved to her shoulders, rubbing them in smooth circles. He pulled her to him, then he wrapped his arms around her, under her back.

Her dress pinched her skin at the back under his hands and suddenly came loose. The tiny pin which held the back of the strapless dress together, and indeed kept the whole dress from simply falling off her, had come undone. Or had been undone.

Hermione jolted out of the dream and reaslised Gareth was trying to _take her dress off._ Could that be right? He wouldn't do such a thing. Would he? She tried to sit up, taking her arms from around his neck and putting them on the ground but he pushed her back down again, knocking her arms out of the way.

She opened her eyes and saw that his brow, not two inches away from her eyes, was furrowed, whether in concentration or annoyance she couldn't tell.

She broke away from the kiss and took a deep breath to scream but Gareth closed her mouth with his, swallowing her air. She was forced into a brutal kiss, her eyes watering. Gareth must have felt the tears on his face because he opened his eyes. Hermione screamed into his mouth.

They were no longer smiling. Instead the had a hard, angry look which frightened Hermione. She whimpered and the eyes smiled again. But it wasnt a kind, caring smile like the ones earlier. Those smiled had been of happiness, pride, maybe even love. This one was full of hate, passion and lust.

She moved her leaden arms and tried to push him away but he grabbed both of her wrists in one hand and pulled them up above her head. With the other hand he began pulling her strapless dress down.

She wrenched her mouth away from his and screamed. She heard the scream echo over the houses far away, and the wide open space all around them.

Gareth slapped her across the face, perfect nails scoring deep grooves in her skin and the scream tore from her mouth, she was left panting and crying.

He collapsed on top of her, thrusting his pelvis onto hers. She writhed but this only exited him further, and he was squeezing the air out of her, suffocating her, she was losing breath, the world was spinning, all she could see were those two blue eyes, staring into hers, she shut her eyes so she wouldn't see them, but still felt them on her eyelids, burning her...

Suddenly he was gone. She was cold, alone, eyes shut fast. She curled up into a foetal position, sobbing. Her hair was messed up and her dress was ripped and loose.

A roar came from near her. She screamed and sat up, backing away from the sound. What she saw shocked her.

Gareth was on his back on the ground, wrestling with someone. The someone was dressed in dark jeans and a black hoodie, with the hood up.

He was punching Gareth and Gareth was punching him in return. But it was obvious that the boy in the hoodie would win. He was stronger and his punches were aggressive, he seemed not to notice Gareths blows, as if all his energy was focused onto hurting Gareth as much as possible.

Gareth was the one who had roared. The other boy was wearing a ring, small, silver, but with something spiky on it that had torn a gash down over Gareth's eye. The cut was bleeding profusely and Gareth must have been part blinded by blood.

The hooded guy seemed to relent as Gareth's punches slowed. He pushed the other guy off him and got up, shooting a last look of lust at Hermione before half running, half limping away towards the distant houses.

Hermione watched him go, then looked in fear at the person who had been fighting him. The person was breathing harshly, hands on knees, looking in the direction that Gareth had run off in.

He glanced at Hermione, who tried to get a look under the hood, but the shadows were too deep. He straightened up, and made like he was going to come over, but stopped. They stood there for a few seconds, Hermione feeling like a damsel in distress who had just been saved by...someone. The boy looked down at his hands, turning them over, the silvery ring flashing deep green in the moonlight, then he turned away and walked back the way that Gareth had gone, away form Hermione, leaving her all alone in the middle of the park, dew-soaked grass soaking through her dress and making her shiver violently.

Hermione watched him go, as she had watched Gareth, but with despair instead of relief. The person who had saved her, protected her from Gareth had simply walked away and left her. She put her head on her knees and sobbed.

After a while she realised that crying wouldnt help anything. She got up and with some difficulty as her arms were still sore, did up her dress. Then she headed in the direction that Gareth and the other boy had gone, still wondering about the identity of her protector. In her mind his ring turned on his hands, flashing green.

After a while her knees started to ache. Her head spun from the slap and the marks across her face stung. One of her silver shoes had broken and she stood wrong-footed on it and collapsed onto the ground.

She propped herself up on hands and knees and saw the dark figure of the other boy at the edge of the woods. He seemed to be looking back, but she couldnt quite tell. Her head gave a massive throb and the grass and stars spun above her, then the night sky came down, and all went black, the green flash of the ring still emblazoned behind her lids.

SGSGSGS

Gabrielle was walking back from the _Final Lotus, _hand in hand with Leon. It had been a good evening. She had had fun, she was pretty sure that everyone else had too and she knew for certain that Hermione, Persia and herself had been kissed.

They were all walking in a group now, the boys had offered to drop the girls off at their flat before returning home. She was hoping to run into Gareth and Hermione somewhere along here, as this was the way they had gone.

Up ahead, they could see someone. It looked like Gareth, but they were limping, so how could that be? Leon called out."Gareth, mate? Is that you?"

The figure turned under a street light, and Gabrielle gasped. It was indeed Gareth. His clothes were torn in places and he had several large bruises on his arms and face. One side of his face was a crusted mess of blood, the other side was sporting a terrific black eye.

He groaned, and fell to the floor in a heap.

For a second, everyone just stood staring at him. Then Jedd and Leon rushed forward to their friend, yelling followed closely by everyone else. Gabrielle looked over Leon's shoulder.

Gareth was a mess. He had fainted and Leon was using a bottle of water and a hankerchief to mop up the side of Gareth's face that was crusted in blood.

As the blood was wiped away, a long gash could be seen, starting just above the eyebrow and ending at the corner of his mouth. It was still bleeding a lot, and looked extremely painful.

Gareth moaned and his eyes flickered open.

"Who did this to you?" Leon asked. Gareth pushed himself up, wincing as somthing cracked, and brushed the grit off of his hands. Then he put one hand to his face, touching his black eye. He looked up at them all.

"Some guy." He answered slowly, his voice hoarse. Leon gave him some of the water and he drank heavily before going on. "He was wearing a black hoodie and jeans." Gareth said, gulping more water, his voice growing in strength. "He had blonde hair, I think."

They all looked back down the alleyway as a sound was heard. It had been a snapping of a twig. From the shadows, a person emerged. They were wearing a black hoodie and jeans.

At the sight of them, the person froze, then took to their heels and ran. He was a very fast sprinter, and was wearing well worn trainers, instead of heeled shoes and posh trainers, and so had an advantage over the rest of them. He was soon out of sight.

Those who had tried to chase him made their way back to Gareth. Suddenly Gabrielle had a thought. "Gareth, can you hear me?" He nodded. "Where's Hermione?" She asked.

He looked up at her, pain written across his face, his eyes filled with emotion, one still red and bloody. He looked back down the alleyway, and pointed weakly.

"Down there." He said.

Gabrielle took Leon and they went down the alleyway to the park. They looked across it and saw a heap of silver material and brown hair. Gabrielle started sprinting towards it. In that second nothing else mattered but that she got to Hermione.

_"Hermione_!" She yelled. The figure did not stir. She heard Leon come up behind her as they reached Hermione. They bent down to look at her. Gabrielle gasped, and she heard Leon intake breath sharply.

She was spreadeagled on the ground. Her previously perfectly combed hair was in a halo around her face, which was white and had a pained expression. Four deep red cuts ran across her cheek, oozing drops of blood, like she'd been slapped hard. Her beautiful silver dress was ripped, muddy and wet. Gabrielle took her hand and fought an urge to scream. It was cold as ice.

Leon picked her up in his arms, Gabrielle still holding her hand, which was still cold. As they came back to the crowd around Gareth, Ginny gave a little scream of horror and rushed forward, grabbing at her other hand.

"What's happened to her?" She said in a small squeaky voice. "Did that boy do things to her as well? Is she very badly hurt? What happened? Why is she so cold?" She asked them.

"That is a lot of questions." Leon said, reminding Ginny of Viktor Krum, from the Triwizard tournament. Leon was very like Krum. Tall, silent, dark and mysterious, but he also seemed to be more in control of himself and his surroundings, more aware. He would be good for Gabrielle.

"She has suffered a blow across the face, but she is not badly hurt. I do not know why she is cold, thought depending how long she was lying on wet grass in a ripped dress for, she could have hypothermia or pneumonia or she could just be very cold. I assume that boy who ran off was the culprit?" He asked Gareth.

Slowly, Gareth nodded, wincing in pain. He was looking at Hermione with an unreadable expression, but which seemed to Gabrielle to have an air of hunger.

"Come on everyone." She said, with authority. "We need to get Hermione home. I think you guys ought to take Gareth back to his house as well." She organised Jedd and Sam to haul Gareth up, arms around their necks. The rush of blood to his head must have made him faint because his head lolled back and his eyes rolled back in their sockets.

Gabrielle was assumed to be the strongest so Ginny and Brie positioned Hermione on Gabrielle's back, with Hermione's arms hanging round her neck. Then they set off back to the flat, with Ginny and Brie holding Hermione up, Pansy and Persia walking ahead looking out for the boy in the hoodie.

About three minutes later, as they were turning into the second last street before their flat, they saw him. He was slouched on a bench with his head in his hands. His back was shaking but no sound was coming from him.

They approached cautiously, knowing that this was the person that had wrecked Gareth's face, and caused Hermione to be unconsious on Gabrielle's back at this very moment. They just had to try and sneak past without him noticing.

But Pansy, it appeared, had other ideas. Going round the back of the bench, she reached out for the boy's shoulder, even as the others all froze solid, watching her.

She put her hand on his shoulder. He jerked up and spun away from her, into the empty street. As he pulled away Pansy's fingers caught the edge of his hood and it fell back.

Pansy gasped. Persia started. Brie and Ginny shrieked and backed away to the fence behind them. Gabrielle gave a strangled yell and let go of Hermione, who slumped to the floor, Her head cracking on the hard tarmac.

Standing in front of them, breathing raggedly, hands clenched so that the knuckles of the hands were bone white was the boy. He had blonde hair and grey eyes, which were red, but dry. He had not been crying.

It was Draco Malfoy.

SGSGSGS

Author's Note: Wooo! So, Is Draco gonna get blamed for Hermione's state? What are the other boys going to do when they find out? And Why wasn't Draco crying? Review!

p.s Heres a little snippet of what Chapter 7 contains:

"She's still unconscious. Its very strange, she should have been awake by now. Its nearly midday." All three of them glared pointedly at Malfoy, who sighed and turned around, going down the stairs to the basement, where he was now sleeping. "Honestly." Ginny said, eyes narrowed at Malfoy's retreating back, talking loud enough that she knew he could hear her. "Snape really is letting him off too lightly. I doubt his father will even do anything. Gareth was a _muggle _and Hermione is a _mudblood, _he'll probably be _proud _of Malfoy for beating them up!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"_WHAT, _IN MERLIN'S NAME, DID YOU _THINK_ YOU WERE _DOING?" _Snape yelled at Draco. Draco could see little flecks of saliva fly from Snape's mouth, like a very greasy bulldog. Snape had been shouting at Draco for the past half an hour. Draco really couldn't stand Snape. He knew that in some was he was probably related to him, being as how all the old families tended to interbreed, but try as he might he had never been able to summon up any family feelings towards Snape. Snape was slimy and Draco wasn't even sure which side of the war he was on. Lucius disliked him intensely but for the sake of the Dark Lord he kept his silence. Snape was...useful to the Dark Lord, even in ways which Snape did not know.

They were in Draco and Blaise's room 'for privacy' but Draco knew for certain that Blaise and the rest of them were hanging around outside in the hall listening to Snape shout. Even if they hadn't, they would have been able to hear perfectly well, every single word. When Snape had started yelling at the top of his lungs, Draco had heard a slate from the roof fall down and smash on the path outside.

Out of the window he could see neighbours peering through curtains, in the way neighbours do, trying to find the source of the noise. He could also see some angry faces grimacing at the house as they walked by, on their way to work.

It was now the morning after the night when Draco had been found and accused by all the girls of not only beating up a muggle boy of their aquaintance, but also injuring Hermione Granger, who was upstairs lying immobile in her bed having still not awakned from unconsiousness.

Whilst Draco had been being yelled at about the muggle, he had stayed silent, with his head bowed, taking it, but when Snape started berating him for attacking Granger as well, he snapped.

He had really let fly at Snape, pouring all his anger into this one outburst. Snape looked quite taken aback, and as he listened to Draco's string of words, many of them not fit to be heard in polite company, his face turned from white with shock, to red with anger, to purple with disgust, to white again in blind, terrible wrath.

---

Standing outside the door, listening, of course, Ron gave a long whistle as Malfoy let fly with every filthy word he knew, and quite a few Ron was certain he had just made up on the spot.

Harry too seemed shocked, but his eyes kept flicking up the stairs and Ron knew he was worrying about Hermione. Even though they were no longer an official couple, they were still friends and Harry was a caring person. Ginny, Gabrielle and Brie were up there now, looking after her.

According to them, Hermione was still icy cold and being next to a fire all night in lots of thick blankets had not made her any warmer whatsoever.

Snape had grudgingly agreed to fix her beautiful dress, but refused point blank to fix the shoes, insisting that they were a hazard that were more dangerous before they were broken, and that Hermione had been lucky not to get broken ankles.

Inside the room, Draco seemed to run out of steam and Ron heard Snape start shouting again with even more volume than he had before. He grinned as things like "DON'T YOU _DARE_ TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" and "A STUDENT OF MY OWN HOUSE!" came floating through.

"-AND I SHALL BE TELLING YOUR FATHER ALL ABOUT THIS WHEN HE GETS BACK FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN!" Snape yelled from behind the door, and then Malfoy was speaking again, though this time it was different, more high pitched, as if Malfoy was..._scared?_ Ron could barely believe his ears. _Malfoy? Scared of something? _It seemed impossible, but there his voice was, almost squeaky, pleading? Begging? No, Malfoy didn't beg.

"Surely you needn't tell my father about this, Professor? It would be a shame to upset him. And even more so after his relaxing holiday, he won't want to be bothered with something like this."

Now Snape's voice was quieter, but still firm. "Nevertheless, we shall have to bother him, shan't we. This must be dealt with." Snape's footsteps were approaching the door, and Ron hastily took his ear away from it, and pretended to be looking at the note on the back of the front door.

Snape banged open the door of Malfoy's room, and strode over to where Ron was, ripping the note saying where everyone was sleeping off the wall.

"There are going to be some changes around here." He said, taking out a quill and crossing things on the paper out, re-writing them. "Mr Crabbe, Mr Goyle, you will be taking up residence in Mr Malfoy and Mr Zabini's room. Mr Malfoy, you will be in the Basement room opposite mine. However, I dont trust that Mr Zabini can constrain you if you take it into your head to attack another muggle, so I will also be putting Mr Potter down there with you. Mr Zabini, you will take Mr Potter's place in with Mr Weasley."

He put the note back up on the wall again. Now it read:

_Floor 2 - _

_Miss Hermione Granger_

_Miss Gabrielle Delacour_

_Miss Ginny Weasley_

_Miss Brie Chevin_

_Miss Persia Renard_

_Miss Pansy Parkinson_

_Floor 1 -_

_Mr Vincent Crabbe_

_Mr Gregory Goyle_

_Mr Ranger Truman_

_Mr Ciel Belledevré_

_Ground Floor -_

_Mr Blaise Zabini_

_Mr Ronald Weasley_

_Basement - _

_Mr Draco Malfoy _

_Mr Harry Potter_

_Professor Severus Snape_

Snape was still looking furious as he strode down the hallway. Ranger and Ciel hurriedly stepped out of the way so that Snape could reach the stairs. He stood at the bottom of it, tapping his foot in its black polished shoes.

Ron watched grumpily as Zabini clumped upstairs, followed by Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle headed down to what had been their room, and Harry, with a barely concealed sigh, pushed open the door of Ron's and, previously his, now Zabini's, room. After a while they all emerged again and went into their new rooms, carrying their sheets and pulling their trunks which were stuffed with clothes hastily chucked in. They all disappeared again into their new rooms. When they re-emerged, looking considerably less than pleased, Snape cleared his throat.

"Now. Much as I would _love _to stay here and look after you all tonight, I have a very important potion back at the castle which requires my attention every evening, so I will not be able to stay. Mr Malfoy, if _anything _happens, you will regret it. Most sincerely." Snape walked towards the door and opened it, before looking back at them. "Now I must go back to the castle. My morning lessons have already been cancelled, and If I do not get back before lunch then there will be consequences."

The door slammed behind him and several sighs of relief were heard. Ginny, Gabrielle and Brie appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Is Hermione awake yet?" Harry said, the relief that Snape was gone being replaced by worry about Hermione. Ginny shook her head.

"She's still unconscious. Its very strange, she should have been awake by now. Its nearly midday." All three of them glared pointedly at Malfoy, who sighed and turned around, going down the stairs to the basement, where he was now sleeping. "Honestly." Ginny said, eyes narrowed at Malfoy's retreating back, talking loud enough that she knew he could hear her. "Snape really is letting him off too lightly. I doubt his father will even do anything. Gareth was a _muggle _and Hermione is a _mudblood, _he'll probably be _proud _of Malfoy for beating them up!"

Malfoy stopped. Harry watched as the muscles in his back tensed, his hands went into fists and he lowered his head. He muttered something.

"What was that?" Ginny said, in a taunting voice. "I couldn't quite hear."

"Shut...up." Malfoy said.

"Why? It's true, isn't it?" Ron said. Harry waved at him to be quiet but Ron wasn't looking at him. He was looking at Malfoy.

"Weasley." Malfoy's voice was so quiet it was almost a whisper, but it contained such a fury that Ron actually flinched at the sound of it. "_Much _as I would love to discuss what my father does or thinks, I have in fact two things to say to you. The first is that the muggle deserved what he got."

There was a scoff of outrage from Ginny.

"Scoff all you like, it's true. And secondly..." He leaned towards them. "I am one hundred percent certain that Granger would agree."

"Hermione? Agree with _anything _you say?" Ron said, making his views very obvious. "What could that muggle possibly have done to deserve you tearing his face up, and what would possibly motivate Hermione to agree that it was the right thing?"

Malfoy came back up the stairs and stood a foot away from Ron. The tension was coming off of them in waves.

"Why don't you go and ask her?" Malfoy hissed, eerily snakelike. He pointed at the stairs. "Go on, Go up there right now and ask her! Oh wait, that's right, you _can't_! She's _unconscious! _Because of what that _bastard _did to her!" He spun around and ran down the stairs two at a time, disappearing from view.

Ron huffed and puffed, Ginny fumed, but Harry wondered what on earth Malfoy could have meant.

_The muggle deserved what he got..._

_Granger would agree..._

_She's unconscious. Because of what..._

The rest of the day the house was caught in a kind of stasis. Ginny, Gabrielle and Brie kept up a constant vigil by Hermione's bed, Ron and Harry looking in every now and then. Crabbe and Goyle sat in front of the TV with Malfoy, watching programmes to pass the time. Pansy and Persia spent the whole time in their room and no-one had any idea what they were doing.

Ron caught up on his duty and tidied the hallway and the living room, shooting evil glares at Malfoy, who was slumped in an armchair, pointedly ignoring Ron.

Harry sat in a corner of the living room, supposedly reading. What he was actually doing was alternating watching Malfoy and staring out of the window, watching the wind blow the trees around. A movement caught his eye. Two young men were walking up the road. Harry watched them approach the house, then with a jolt saw them push open the gate and come up the garden path.

---

Gareth rang the doorbell. He and Leon had come to see how Hermione was. He had nagged Leon into coming because if he ran into the guy who had beaten him up on the way, he wanted some help. That guy was strong. Now he was standing in relief on the doorstep of Hermione's flat.

He heard footsteps inside and the door opened. Standing there was a young man, taller than Gareth by about an inch. He had scruffy black hair and glasses.

"Hello." The young man said. "Who are you?" His voice was suspicious.

"I'm Gareth" Gareth said. "This is my mate Leon. We're...er...the guys who took Hermione and her mates clubbing last night." He knew he looked a bit sheepish. "We're sorry about what happened. Is she alright?"

The dark-haired man stepped aside. "Come in." He said. Gareth walked inside.

So this was where Hermione was staying. It was not much of a place, with peeling wallpaper and a faint cabbagey smell. There were stairs in the hallway going up and down, and he could hear someone in one of the rooms of the rather cramped hallway.

He noticed the dark-haired young man was looking at him strangely. There was a mirror on the wall and Gareth saw his reflection. He was not surprised he was getting a weird look.

His silver blonde hair was ruffled and messy from the wind outside. The gash down his cheek was red and swollen, and he had a grey ring around his eye.

"Some guy beat me up." He said, by way of explanation. "Yesterday, in fact, on the way home from the club." He shrugged. "I'm sorry im a bit of a mess."

The dark-haired young man's eyes suddenly cleared, as if understanding something. Then an expression of worry and anxiety flashed across his face, but was gone just as quickly.

"Wait here." He said, and disappeared into the room from which Gareth could hear the sounds of someone moving about. The sounds suddenly stopped. Gareth crept closer to the door and listened hard. He could just hear the sound of a whispered conversation.

"Ron." The dark-haired young man was speaking. "Ron, there's someone in the hallway. Well, two someones, to be exact." There was the noise of footsteps then a squeak of shoes on tiles as it the person walking had been held back.

"Ron, its the muggle! The one that Malfoy beat up!" The voice sounded urgent. Gareth wondered what a 'muggle' was. Then another voice spoke.

"But Harry, he can't come here! Malfoy's in the sitting room! What if he goes beserk and attacks the muggle again? You've got to get him out of here!"

"But Ron, I can't! He wants to see Hermione!" There was a pause. "Wait...what if we take him up to Hermione's room...hey, you'll have to go and shut the door of the living room...and I'll take him to see Hermione."

"Ok mate."

Another young man, this one with flaming red hair and lots of freckles, came out of the room. He towered over Gareth and was even taller than Leon. Gareth supposed this must be Ron. Ron, if that was who it was, took a quick look at Gareth and Leon then went down the hallway and entered one of the rooms, closing the door behind him. Then the dark-haired guy, apparently called Harry, came out of the other room.

He motioned for Gareth and Leon to follow him. He passed the room with the closed door. From inside Gareth could hear a TV. That meant it was the sitting room, which meant that a guy...Malfoy? was in there. Hadn't one of them said Malfoy was the one who had beaten the...Muggle? up? Did that mean him?

Still puzzling over this, Gareth was startled to find himself in front of a door, apparently a couple of flights up. He had walked up two flights of stairs without realising. The sign on the door said:

_Miss Hermione Granger_

_Miss Gabrielle Delacour_

Gareth nudged Leon. "Hey your girl's in here as well." Leon nodded warily as the dark-haired guy pushed open the door.

Gareth had been in lots of girls rooms. His older sister's room was usually messy, full of clothes and make up and fashion magazines. You could barely see the floor. His younger sister's room was equally messy, but with books and toys, as she was only seven. His girlfriends' rooms usually tended towards the first description, with all the normal items in a teenage girls bedroom. But Hermione's and Gabrielle's room was unlike any he'd ever been in.

The first thing he noticed was how tidy it was. Sure, there were some things on the floor, but you could _see_ the floor. By one bed was a pile of very heavy textbooks, all apparently, in french. On the duvet cover (which had pictures of owls flying) was another booklet, also in french, but with pictures of broomsticks. How strange.

Around the other bed were strewn even larger textbooks, but these were in english. They had titles like _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade VII_ and _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. _Even stranger. On the bed was...

"Hermione!" She was lying on the bed, pale as death, with her hair spread out on the pillow around her head. She had the duvet tucked round her neck and several hot water bottles were by the side of her. A heater was on near her head as well, and Gareth noticed how stifling hot it was. Hermione's hand was being held by the red-head, Ginny, and Gabrielle and Brie were sitting looking up at them.

Gareth knelt down and took Hermione's hand. He had to fight himself from dropping it. It was as cold as ice, a burning, fierce cold that felt like it would freeze his fingers off. "What happened?" He asked Gabrielle.

"She's been like this ever since we found her. She didn't wake up for breakfast or lunch, we've tried making noise, splashing her with water, everything, but she won't wake up." Gabrielle seemed near tears and Leon knelt beside her. She buried her face in his jacket. Ginny carried on

"She's been cold as ice all night. We've had it this hot in here all day and all night, she's got hot water bottles in there with her but she simply stays cold. Its eerie." She looked pale as well and her freckles were almost grey. The other girl, Brie, just sat there, hands wrapped around knees, rocking backwards and forwards and gazing at Hermione.

"What's up with her?" Gareth asked Ginny.

"We don't know. Ever since we brought Hermione back she's been utterly silent. Even all night while Gabby and I were sitting watch over Hermione, talking. She just sits there rocking. I dont know if she even hears us." Now Ginny seemed close to tears as well. "She told me before that she's very...aware of other people's emotions. Its true, yesterday when we were at the club she seemed to be tapping in to everyone's emotions and mimicing them. Its funny sometimes. But not now." She gave a funny little squeaky sob and the dark-haired guy bent down patted her head. Then he turned to Gareth and Leon.

"Look, guys. I know you want to stay and look after Hermione, but its really tough for us right now. I think we ought to leave the girls here. If you guys want to come back later, you can." He looked awkward, as most guys do when confronted with a crying girl.

Gareth stood up. Leon disentangled Gabrielle from his arms and followed Gareth down stairs. At the bottom of the stairs the other guy semmed to stop and think for a moment. Then he poked his head into the room with the closed door and said something to the occupants. It might have been Gareth's imagination, but he seemed to stress some words more than others.

"Ron," He said. "Have you got any of those _sweets_ your brothers gave you? The _red_ ones?" There was a shuffling inside the room and a moment later the guy had withdrawn his head and was holding a rather crumpled white paper bag in his hand, which he offered to Gareth and Leon while he closed the door behind him.

"Look, I want to thank you for coming over. We could really use some support right now. Here, take one of these as a thankyou. I promise, you won't regret it."

Gareth and Leon both took one of the small red boiled sweets out of the bag. Gareth popped his in his mouth as Leon did the same. The sweet tasted strange. It was almost rasberry flavour, but with something which could have been alcohol or could have been something else. It melted on his tongue and he swallowed, leaving a rather sharp sensation in his mouth.

Suddenly he heard the door of the sitting room open. A head poked out. A blonde head.

"You!" Gareth said, stunned.

"You!" The other guy said, equally stunned. But he wasn't stunned for long. With a gutteral roar he charged at Gareth, and was only held back by the dark-haired boy and the red-head, who had emerged from the sitting room and was bracing himself against the door frame to hold the blonde guy back.

Gareth and Leon backed towards the door. "What are you doing here?" Gareth managed to stutter.

"He lives here with us!" The red-head cried. "Malfoy, come back!" He wrenched the blonde's shirt back and the young man fell over backwards and hit his head on the wall with a crack.

The two young men who had been holding him back were left panting. As they breathed in and out Gareth could have sworn he saw their breath sparkle. They were going blurry and his head started to ache. "Did..was there alcohol in the red thing?" He mumbled. Leon was swaying beside him and had his mouth open.

"No." The dark-haired guy came forward. "Something else." He suddenly seemed to grow far taller, and Gareth realised he had sunk to his knees. A sour expression on the other boy's face turned into an expression of extreme dislike, possibly even hate.

"Hermione's too good for you." He growled and kicked Gareth in the chest. Gareth fell forward, his head a greyish haze which was numbing everything. The grey darkened and the world went black.

---

"Harry." Ron said as they hauled the unconscious forms of the two muggles into the street. "You know we're going to get into trouble for this don't you? I mean, those memory-removing sweets Fred and George gave me will get those muggles off our trail, but Snape's not going to be pleased."

"I had no choice Ron," Harry said, as they positioned Gareth and Leon on a bench. "They saw all Hermione and Gabrielle's wizard stuff, and now know Malfoy lives with us, and all about Hermione's predicament. Trust me, there will be far less trouble this way.

That evening, Harry wondered if he had jinxed himself by saying those words. He had hoped all Snape would do was tell them off, then maybe confiscate the sweets or something. Instead, he had spent another half an hour raging at Harry and Ron, Ron for possessing such dangerous articles, Harry for using those dangerous articles on unsuspecting muggles. He had then confiscated the sweets, made Ron clear the house again and sent Harry to his room, to stay there. When Malfoy had regained consiousness Snape had had another long shout at him and sent him to his room as well.

So now Harry was locked in a small room with his second most hated person (the first being Voldemort) in the world, until breakfast the next day. It was now about 6:00 in the evening and Snape had charmed the lock to un-lock itself at 8:00 the next morning. 14 hours of Draco Malfoy in a row. In an 8x10 foot room. Could it get any worse?

Harry was lying on his bed reading _Flying with the Cannons_ and pointedly ignoring Malfoy, who was sitting cross legged on the floor searching through his trunk. Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Malfoy get up and start wandering round the room, lifting up things off the floor, looking underneath them, then putting the back down.

In spite of himself, Harry's curiosity was piqued. "What are you doing?" He said, trying to sound un-interested.

"Why should I tell you?" Malfoy drawled, not turning round. He lifted a small table off the floor at the end of his bed, and then put it back down.

"It was only a question." Harry muttered, turning back to his book.

Malfoy sighed and sat down on his bed. "I'm looking for the secret compartment." He said.

Harry turned around. "The what?"

"Are you deaf, Potter? The secret compartment. Where Crabbe and Goyle keep their drink." Malfoy kicked his trunk. "They hide it under the floor, but I cant find the mark on the carpet to say where they've hidden it."

"Duh Malfoy." Harry said "It must be under my stuff."

Malfoy gave him a scathing look. "Nuh, you think? Lets see, I've looked under all of my stuff, all round the walls, everywhere except under your junk. Where could it possibly be?"

Harry put down his book and went to the end of his bed, where his trunk was. He pushed it aside and there, underneath it were four small black marks, like cigarette burns, in a square.

Malfoy came over, and with the egde of his fingernail found a crack in the carpet and lifter it up. Underneath was a loose floorboard, not unlike the one Harry had in the Dursley's house, and in it was...

A small green bag, made out of something like snakeskin. It was about the size of Harry's clenched fist.

"You're telling me there are drinks in that?" Harry was skeptical.

Malfoy picked up the small bag and put it in the middle of the floor. He extended one pale finger and tapped the top of the bag three times.

For a second, the bag glowed green. then something inside it moved, struggled pushed out the sides. The bag was stretched larger and larger, growing in size until it was at least as big as Harry's head. And it didn't stop. It grew and grew and grew, swelling and bulging as whatever was inside stretched the bag further and further until it was the size of a muggle bin bag. Slowly, it stopped. The creature inside settled down and they were left with a large sack.

Malfoy laughed at Harry's stunned expression. "Moke skin purse" he said. "It shrinks and grows of its own accord. Very handy for keeping large amounts of stuff hidden. He pulled open the top of the bag and showed Harry.

Inside the bag were bottles. Dozens of them, containing a variety of things from beer and shandy to vodka and firewhiskey. He took a bottle of firewhiskey and looked at it.

_Oggden's Old Firewhiskey_ it said. It had a picture of a very stylised dragon in on the front, which was breathing fire and had a bottle in its claw. _WARNING:Flammable _it said underneath.

Harry put the Firewhiskey back in the sack and took some beer instead. So did Malfoy. They sat on the floor drinking in silence for a while. After Harry had finished the beer bottle he put it down next to him and inspected another bottle.

_Horklumpade _the label read. Harry read the ingredients. _Horklump juice, Essence of Horklump, Horklump spines, alcohol, sugar._

It was a greyish pink colour with swirls of green. It looked foul.

"This looks foul." Harry said to Malfoy. Malfoy looked round.

"Foul?" He said, incredulous. "Potter, what you hold there in your hands is the third greatest drink ever made! It's not foul, its delicious!" He took a bottle.

"Third greatest?" Harry said. "What are the other two? In fact, what are your top ten favorite drinks?"

"Ok Potter, random question alert. Though considering, I'd do anything to pass the time." Malfoy looked seriously bored.

"Number 10." Harry prompted.

"Probably an East Indies Cocktail. They're just so sublime."

"Number 9."

"Cherry Brandy or Cherry Rum. I cant decide."

"Ok then, Number 8."

"Bingles Best Brandy. Its a wizard brand."

"Number 7."

"A Zombie."

"You can't be serious."

"I am! I swear Potter, there's a drink called a Zombie! Its made with Rum and...other stuff. I've drunk one!

"Fine, fine, whatever. Number 6."

"A Bloody Maria. I think sometimes its called a Bloody Mary"

"Oh yeah. I know them. Number 5."

"A Kamikaze."

"What? Isnt that like some suicide mission or something?"

"I don't know Potter! Its just the name of the drink! I think its got Vodka and Lime juice in. Crabbe and Goyle might have one." Malfoy rummaged in the bag and pulled out a bottle which he handed to Harry, who opened it and took a sip.

"Oooh, thats really nice."

"Isnt it? Go on, next one.

"Number 4."

"A Soul Kiss."

"What on earth is in that? It sounds like something related to dementors."

"Yeah, and we all know how dementors affect you, dont we Potter. No, you probably wouldn't like it, its made with different wines. And orange juice I think."

"Right. I know number 3 is Horklumpade, what's number 2?

"A Mai Tai."

"Ok then. Number 1?"

"The greatest drink in the whole world is Oggden's Old Firewhiskey. It knocks anything else simply out of the air."

"Pass me one." Malfoy found a Firewhiskey and chucked it at Harry, who defly caught it. Harry grinned at the expression on Malfoy's face, knowing he had expected Harry to miss it.

"How'd you catch so well?" Malfoy said grumpily.

"Years of quidditch and catching snitches." Harry said with a smug grin.

"Huh, I bet I could catch just as well as you." Malfoy said, with a challenge in his eyes.

"Go on then, catch." Harry chucked a bottle of Firewhiskey at Malfoy's head, who ducked. The bottle smashed agaist Malfoy's bed.

"Thats not fair." Malfoy said, sounding like a grumpy child. "You threw it at my head."

"Look Malfoy, we'll have a competition. We each throw the bottle to one another, and if we drop it, we have to drink one in one go."

"Bring it on."

Malfoy got up and stepped away from Harry. Harry picked up a bottle and stood up. He tossed it at Malfoy's head again, but this time he managed to catch it.

Malfoy threw the bottle up into the air, spinning it. Harry jumped and caught it, then smirked at Malfoy, who scowled.

And so the game went on. Gradually the sky above the high window turned from blue to grey to black, and stars came out. Gradually the sounds of people moving upstairs became fainter and fainter, and after a while the whole house above them was silent.

And still the game went on. Harry could have sworn that the bag was replenishing itself, because however many Firewhiskeys they dropped, or drank, there always seemed to be more.

Or that could just be because he was getting drunk. Of course, he had caught the bottle all the time at first, but then, as most people are prone to do, he made a mistake. A particularly deceptive throw of Malfoy's had Harry leaping to the left, while the bottle flew through the air next to his ear. Harry had grudgingly downed a whole bottle of the Firewhisky, wincing a little at the harsh taste. But that had only made Malfoy laugh at him, and so the game had gone on.

But the more Harry drank, the more mistakes he made, and the more he had to drink. He suspected he'd had about 20 or so. However, he also suspected Malfoy had had far more. Having a slight edge over Malfoy in quidditch meant that Harry did in fact catch the bottles more times than Malfoy did. And so, every time Malfoy dropped another one, he cheerfully took a gulp of another bottle.

They were both far beyond drunkeness now. Harry had always been of the opinion that all drinking alcohol did was remove you inhibitions, your masks, those sneaky subtle layers most people wrapped themselves in. That was why some people could simply drink and drink and drink, and seemingly not change in attitude at all. These were the people that wore a very few layers of disguise,. that were almost totally real and true to everyone they met. For the same reason, those who, when drinking, went crazy, or moody, or sleepy, or however else they changed, those were the people who put up so many barriers around themselves that almost no-one ever saw the real them.

Harry had, on previous occasions, stated this theory to both Hermione and Ron. Ron had heartily agreed, adding that when he had last seen Harry out of his mind with drink (and it had happened, Ron had the photos to prove it, taken to blackmail Harry with when there was something he needed Harry to do.) Harry had seemed more of the second kind of person, but more prone to mood swings. According to Ron, one moment Harry would be energetic and laughing with everyone around him, the next he would be skulking in a corner, beyond reason or rescueing.

Hermione had agreed with Ron, adding that on these occasions, even she couldnt get a single coherent phrase or sometimes even word out of him, that he would push her away and glower at anyone who came close. She had also added to Harry's theory, that those people who built up strong barriers around themselves had a person, that she believed people called a soul mate, that could break down all those barriers just like that. Harry was dubious about this theory, as neither he, nor Ron, nor, he believed, Hermione, had ever encountered their soul mate.

A bottle of Firewhisky smashed on Harry's head, jolting him out of his thought train. The knock had seriously unbalanced him, but due to the alcohol coursing through him he couldnt seem to steady himself, he fell back against his bed, falling down slumped until his head rested on the edge of the mattress.

Slowly, raising his head, he picked up a bottle of Firewhisky and threw it at Malfoy. Malfoy made a grab for it but clutched at it so hard that it shattered, spraying him with the reddish, goldy liquid. Shocked, dripping Firewhiskey from his clothes and hair, his face was a sight to behold. Harry burst into giggles at the sight of Malfoy covered in Firewhiskey. He suddenly sat up and crawled over to his trunk, from which he pulled out a muggle camera. Still laughing, he took a photo of Malfoy, who yelled, realising what the camera was, and lept at Harry, who put the camera behind him.

Not quickly enough. Malfoy's pale, cold fingers brushed Harry's as he grabbed at the camera and he pulled, hard. There followed a furious tug of war, Malfoy gouging deep grooves in the soft plastic of the camera. Harry caught the strap of the camera and tugged, Malfoy was jolted forwards, then he wrenched the camera so hard that the strap snapped, and Malfoy was left, holding the scratched and battered camera in his hands, panting, Harry wheezing, clutching the strap in his hand.

Malfoy stared in disgust at the camera, and brought it above his head, as if to throw it to the ground and smash it. Suddenly, a small shred of sobriety flared in the back of Harry's mind. What was on that film, those pictures that had been taken just before the term started. His mind wandered back, he remembered Ron taking the camera out of his bag on the Hogwarts express, playing with it, Hermione and himself talking, holding hands, kissing, smiling at each other. Their last fully trusting and happy moment before the break up, him carrying Hermione to bed. He remembered Ron, faithfully, annoyingly taking photos of Hermione and his tender moments, saying that one day, Harry might thank him.

"No!" He cried, but it was too late. Down came Malfoy's arms hurling the small silver box to the floor, smashing it into bits. "No!" Harry cried again, falling to his knees and pulling the mess of bits towards him. He found the little roll of film, saw how all the photos had been scratched or torn. His favorite one, of Hermione's kiss as she headed of towards the prefects meeting at the start of term was ripped, right down the middle. He held it up to the light. There, her lips and his cruelly torn in two, were Hermione and himself. Their perfect kiss had been sundered, broken, and it was all Malfoy's fault.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

There, her lips and his cruelly torn in two, were Hermione and himself. Their perfect kiss had been sundered, broken, and it was all Malfoy's fault.

With a growl he raised his eyes, shaking hair out of them, all his drunken anger and frustration over his and Hermione's break up focused into one purpose: Hurt Malfoy As Much As Possible. Clutching the torn images in his fist he roared and attacked Malfoy. He punched him and kicked him, scratching at his pale face and tearing at his pale hair.

At first Malfoy resisted, trying to placate Harry, push him away, hold him so he couldn't hit him. But then as Harry got more and more violent, Malfoy started to hit back. This only enraged Harry further, he punched Malfoy full in the face, felt things crack under his fist, felt blood run through his fingers. He brought his hand away and Malfoy was screaming.

Harry was so shocked he actually stopped hitting Malfoy. He got up from where he had been sitting on Malfoy, punching him. Malfoy was rolling around on the floor, writhing, clutching his bloodied face and head, blood running down his hands, through his hair, dying it a horrible rusty red.

And through the screams Harry could hear sounds. Not just sounds, words as well. Malfoy was _whimpering?_ and, was he _crying?_ He couldnt be. He had never known Malfoy cry, he just wasn't that sort of person. Harry couldnt tell, however, because the hands clasped across Malfoy's face covered his eyes. Malfoy was curled up in the corner now, still screaming.

Harry did not know whether to be thankful or annoyed that Snape had put a silencing charm on the room, so that no-one in the whole house could hear anything they said.

Another burst of mumbling, yelling from Malfoy. Harry leaned closer, trying to hear what Malfoy was saying.

---

_"No! Father, please! Not again! I tried father, I tried!"_

_Draco crouched on the cold stone floor of the dungeon. Blood ran through his fingers, down the back of his hands, he could feel it spreading through his hair, warm and sticky and wet. He clutched his hands to his face where his father had hit him. His whole head was filled with pain, his mind overflowing with it. He screamed, long, high, wrecked with agony and grief. But through the darkness came the long pale fingers, so like his own, and in those fingers was held a wand made of black wood, and from the darkness came a voice, the voice which came from the darkness, was the darkness, symbolised everything that the darkness stood for in his life._

Crucio

_The pain, which before had been centered in his head, in his eyes, was now everywhere, his very skin was made of thousands of tiny needles, being pushed into his flesh. He had suffered the cruciatus curse before, but that didnt make it any less agonising and breath-stealing._

_He writhed on the floor, knowing the flagstones were pressing into his back but hardly being able to feel them underneath the raw, white-hot pain that was surrounding him, entering him, becoming him. With his last shred of sanity he sought in his mind a place where he might shelter from the onslaught of pain, and came across a small section which hadn't been looked at in a very long time. He entered the small enclosed space, and closed it off._

_Silence. Draco couldnt feel the pain now, it was like a memory, vague and haunting. He had a strange feeling someone was watching him as he stood facing the door, panting._

_Something moved, behind him._

_He spun round._

_There, standing with a long black cloak pulled over her hair was Granger. She wore the traditional robes of the Death Eater, black, hooded robes, heavy and musty. He faintly wondered why she wasn't wearing a mask, then noticed she held it in her left hand. In her right hand was her wand._

_Suddenly, a conversation he had had a long long time ago with his father popped into his head._

_-_

_"Father?" Draco had said. "Why do you wear masks?"_

_"Because, Draco, each of us, save for the Dark Lord himself, has seperate lives, seperate identities. If there were any witnesses, any sight caught of us on one of our...ventures" Lucius gave a wry smile "...then the whole of the world would be told. We would have nowhere safe, nowhere, do you understand?" _

_Draco nodded, and picked up his wand again. He and Lucius had been dueling, Lucius teaching him dark magic, and they had been having a break. _

_Then Lucius leaned in, smiling, showing his teeth like a crocodile that knows it is about to eat. "Do you know when the only time you will see a Death Eater without a mask?"_

_Draco shook his head._

_Lucius bent down so that his mouth was right next to Draco's ear._

_"When their face will be the last thing the person watching ever sees." Lucius whispered, and stunned Draco in the side of the head._

_-_

_Draco remembered that conversation vividly now, as he looked at Hermione. He had always wondered what it would feel like to face death, and never, never thought he would be killed by a girl. Much less a Gryffindor. Much less a Gryffindor that could beat him in every class. _

_Even less that this Gryffindor girl who could beat him in every class would have such a sad expression in her eyes. Brown eyes. Chocolate brown eyes. Almost the same colour as her hair..._

_In front of him, Granger put her hood down._

_Her hair glinted. Some invisible light was shining down on top of her, illuminating her hair. In the golden light like autumn sunlight her hair was a deep, honeycomb red. It hung around her face like something Draco couldnt describe. He had heard her complaining to Potter and Weasley that it was always a mess. It wasnt a mess now. It was not straight, and not curly, but something in beetween, wavy and soft-looking. _

_Granger tilted her face up, and the light became stronger. She closed her eyes, and her face seemed to glow. That was it, Draco realised, the reason no light was falling on her was becasue she was making the light. Her face radiated golden sunlight. A pool of light was beginning to grow around her, rippling over the cold flagstones, warming them. The line of brightness was nearing Draco. He pushed himself backwards, away from the light and warmth. His back hit the wall but the brightness kept on coming. It was nearing him, it was going to touch him..._

_Then it stopped. The wall of light simply halted about an inch from his toes. He looked up and saw Granger still standing in the middle of the light, head turned upwards, eyes closed._

_He looked down again, being unable to stand that brightness for long. He bacame aware that he was shaking, his whole body was aching to step forward, to just move his foot forward ever so slightly, to step into the light, to escape the darkness._

_But something in him held it back. Some inner strength commanded his body to stay still, and still it did remain. And so the struggle went on, his body and a sizeable part of his mind fighting to go forward, the rest of his mind solidly refusing. This was the dark part of his mind, the part that had taken the pain of Lucius' many punishments, the part of himself Draco wished he could escape from, yet the part that was such an integral piece of him that he couldn't imagine ever being without it. This was the part that made the clever plans, the bit that got him out of trouble, the piece that made him the ice-prince of Slytherin, unchallened leader of Hogwarts' darkest house. This part made people obey him, respect him, and he suspected this was the part that made him irrististable to anyone he wanted._

_It was stronger than the rest of his mind and his body together. He stayed still._

_Then he chanced another look up. What he saw shocked him. Granger had her head down again. She was looking at him. Well, not technically looking. You couldn't look at someone through closed eyelids._

_Or could you? Draco had the strangest feeling that even though Granger's eyes were closed, she could see him. Sense his presence. This suspicion was confirmed when Granger lifted up her wand, and pointed it straight at Draco's heart._

_Draco swallowed. This was it. The final moment. He knew he ought to be scared, have some final heroic thought, maybe simply keep his eyes on the wand, at least._

_But no. He simply felt sad. Sad that he had not stepped forward into the light when he had had the chance. His only thought was that Lucius would have been disgusted at the way his son was about to die. He could almost hear his father's voice in his head._

_"Draco! Draco Malfoy, listen to me!"_

_But Draco ignored the voice. What was the point. He was going to die anyway. He didn't seem to want to look at the wand either. His whole attention was focused on Granger's face, her high cheekbones, her pink lips, her beautiful lashes. He had to admit, she really was beautiful. Pity she was going to be the last thing he ever saw, he would never have a chance to tell her._

_As if able to hear his thoughts, Granger stirred. Then she opened her eyes._

_If was eerie. As if the world was centered on those eyes, like black holes, they sucked in the world. Draco felt himself falling forward. Granger was coming up, her face and eyes becoming more and more detailed every second. He noticed she had freckles on the bridge of her nose. He saw the way every eyelash stood up, erect._

_Them he looked into Granger's eyes. At the center of each of them, at the center of the black rings, edged in chocolate, was a tiny flame. It was flickering and dancing, but it looked slightly strange. Then Draco realised. The flame was coming out of Granger's eyes. He was seeing it as if on top._

_Granger's eyes were becoming bigger and bigger. Granger opened her mouth and called his name. _

_"Draco Malfoy!"_

_Granger's eyes widened, the flame grew, all he could see was chocolate rings, black holes and dancing flames. Granger's eyes filled his vision. He reached out for the flame._

_The edge of the fire touched him, and he fell into Hermione's eyes._

---

Harry slapped the flames away from Draco, and tried shouting again. "Malfoy! Draco Malfoy, can you hear me?" It was no use. Malfoy wasn't responding. Harry propped Malfoy up against a wall and dodged a bit of burning wallpaper. He caught his breath and surveyed the room.

He had to admit, the room didn't look much like it had an hour ago. He had realised something was wrong when something hot had hit him in the back when he was shouting at Malfoy to wake up. He had turned around and been greeted by a rather disturbing sight. The ceiling had been on fire.

He had stared for quite a while, trying to come to terms with this new development. Then he tried to work out what had happened. It had occured to him that one of the bottles he and Malfoy had smashed on the lampshade. He supposed some must have gotten on the light bulb too, because that would have made the Firewhiskey get hot enough to burn, which had ignited the Firewhiskey covered lampshade, which had flared, setting fire to the Firewhiskey splattered ceiling.

At this point he had resumed trying to wake up Malfoy, but with more fervour than before. He had tried hitting him, kicking him, pulling his hair, dousing him with more Firewhiskey, which he had then thought to be a very stupid idea, and had wiped what he hoped was most of it off. Unfortunately he had wiped it off with the sleeves of his clothes. Not that he and Malfoy hadn't been soaked with Firewhiskey before.

So now they were trapped in a small room that wouldn't unlock for another few hours, wearing highly flammable clothing, unable to magic the fire away, keep themselves cool or do anything about the fire. The only thing they could do was panic, and Malfoy couldnt even do that, being as how he was unconscious. So now Harry was trying as hard as physically possible to wake up Malfoy, so that he could have someone to panic with.

He was wondering whether he should hit Malfoy over the head with a book, and just as he was realising that all his books had now been burnt to cinders along with the rest of his stuff, Harry heard a groan.

Malfoy was stirring. Harry took hold of the other boy's shoulders and shook him.

"Malfoy. Wake up. Now. I...I need your help."

"The Great Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World, The-Boy-Who-Lived, needs me, a petty, evil Slytherin to help him?" Malfoy croaked, smirking even with his eyes closed.

"Yes, Malfoy. I. Need. Your. Help."

"Why?"

"Because the room is on fire."

Malfoy opened his eyes. They were bloodshot, red rimmed, his eyelashes encrusted with dried blood. He stared around the room, eyes widening, mouth dropping open, taking in the burning Firewhiskey and the locked door, then his eyes strayed to the ceiling above Harry's head.

"Look out!" He cried. Harry, having seen lots and lots of action movies when he was younger, Dudley having had a passion for them, spun to the side and _then _looked up to see what had fallen.

Exactly where he had just moved from, sitting there smouldering in front of a shocked Malfoy, was a large chunk of the ceiling. A spark fell off of it and onto the floor, igniting the carpet. Malfoy yelled and jumped up, swaying slightly. He and Harry backed away from the growing patch of flames. The fire ate up the carpet, creeping towards their feet.

---

Draco watched the fire approach, felt Potter tense at his side. The fire was playing tricks on his eyes, the smoke from the burned ceiling was curling, arranging itself into a figure. For a single moment, Draco thought he saw someone in the fire beckon, then the smoke was gone again, unfurling grey tendrils.

His feet began to feel hot. Draco looked down, and saw the fire near his feet. Suddenly he knew what he had to do. He turned to Potter, grinned...

...and stepped forward, into the fire.

---

_About an hour earlier..._

Ginny opened her eyes. There was blackness looming above her, and a figure in the blackness, who was slightly blacker than the rest of the black.

"Ginny! Are you awake?" Brie said, quietly.

"Yes, Brie, I am now." Ginny mumbled. "What's wrong?"

"Ginny, zere eez somewune outsaide our door. Eet sounds laike Gabbrielle." Ginny noticed Brie sounded worried.

"Let her in." Ginny sat up and watched the half-shape that was Brie go over to the door and open it slightly to talk to Gabrielle. Ginny heard mutters and whispers, then some more footsteps and both Brie and Gabrielle were standing next to her bed.

"Gabby 'ere sais zat zere is somesing wrong wiz ze ground floor. Am ay right?"

"Yes, you are correct." Gabrielle said, breathless. "The ground floor is really hot, I mean, boiling hot, and the heat seems to be coming from the basement floors.

"Ah, well, eet eez probablee those boys mayking lots of spells, yes?" Brie said.

"Well, no, I dont think it can be, because, do you remember, Snape put a charm on the house so that no magic could be done by any of us here." Gabrielle explained.

"What could be making the heat then?" Ginny wondered out loud.

"Well," Gabrielle said, worriedly, "the only thing I could think of was a fire."

"A fire?" Ginny said. "Why would there be fire downstairs?"

"I don't know, thats just it." Gabrielle said. She was starting to make Ginny worried now as well.

"Wait...no...they're not dumb enough..." Ginny said.

She was remembering the last fire she'd been in, at the Burrow, after Fred and George had made a really good deal at their shop, they had stayed up all night, getting drunk on Firewhiskey. In the morning they had thrown all of the half drunk ones onto the fireplace, and lit them, to see it they would go bang (they were in that sort of mood) and had set fire to half their room. The fire had been put out pretty quickly once Mum and Dad had attacked it with water, but Fred and George had had to sleep outside for the whole of the rest of their stay. It had taught Ginny one thing though. Firewhiskey was way more flammable than anyone gave it credit for. They had even started putting warnings on the bottles about its flammability but even that didn't dissuade people.

"Firewhiskey..." She murmured, and Brie looked up, horrified.

"Zey wouldn't do zat. Would zey?" She looked extremely worried.

"Only one way to find out." Ginny said, brazenly. She slid out of bed, put on her fluffy green slippers and led Gabrielle and Brie out of the room.

They made their way down stairs. As Ginny descended she could feel the heat rising, she could feel her nightgown starting to stick to her back with sweat, and as she reached the ground floor, she brushed a damp lock of hair out of her eyes.

She went down the hallway and opened the front door. The muggle night greeted her with its bush rustlings and distant dogs barking. She walked round the garden, past the spot where she and Brie had been gardening earlier to the side alley, round the side of the house, on which the window of the basement was situated.

She saw as she turned the corner. The window had been smashed, shards of glass littered the concrete around the window. A flame flew out of the open hole.

"Harry!" She cried, and rushed forward, followed by Gabrielle and Brie. They stopped about three feet from the hole, the heat was almost unbearable, and besides, another tongue of flame could emerge at any moment. But she could just see inside the room.

Malfoy was sprawled, obviously unconsious next to one of the beds. His face and hair was covered in blood, which looked like it was still drying. Harry was knelt next to him, shaking him, and she could hear faint yelling, which must have been Harry shouting at Malfoy to wake up. But the roar of the fire was overwhelming. She saw Harry's glasses slip down his nose, him push them back up again, only to have the fall down. His face was a mask of sweat.

"Harry! _Harry_! HARRY! _HARRY!_" She screamed, but he could not hear her.

"Brie, wait here. Watch them, then come and get us if anything happens. Gabby, come on, we've got to go wake the boys." She and Gabrielle sprinted back inside, ran down the hallway and hammered on the door of Ron and Zabini's room.

"Ron! Ron! Come quick!" Ginny heard a sound like someone falling out of bed inside the room, some weary footsteps, they a blearly eyed Ron opened the door.

"Wassup Gin'. Its hot enough inside, dont make me walk as well!"

"Shush!" Ginny shrieked, and she hit Ron round the face.

"What was that for?" He said, angry but more awake now.

"Harry and Malfoy are trapped in the basement rooms and there is a fire down there!" Ginny shrieked again. She saw Zabini appear behind Ron's back. They both looked shocked as this hit them.

"Oh _Merlin."_ Ron said, and rushed back into the room, slipping on his shoes. Ginny saw Zabini do the same, only he also grabbed a shirt. The four of them ran up the stairs, Gabrielle and Zabini stopping on floor 1, Ginny and Ron heading up to floor 2. Ginny knocked on Pansy and Persia's room, and after a few moments a sleepy Persia opened the door.

"What..." She began, but Ginny cut her off.

"Harry and Malfoy are down in the basement, and their room is on fire." She said, breathlessly. Persia looked horrified as this sunk in, and she flung the door open. She saw Persia run over to Pansy's bed and whisper something to her, then Pansy was getting up too.

She heard Ron choke behind her and turned around, to see him turn extremely red and look away. She looked round again and saw that Pansy was wearing a lacy red and black nightdress thing, which was very good at advertising the fact that Pansy had nothing else on.

Pansy and Persia both threw long dressing gowns around themselves. Pansy's was pink, Persia's purple. They all hurrried downstairs where they found Crabbe and Goyle, who were wearing shorts and old t-shirts, Ciel and Ranger, who were wearing some strange french looking silk pyjamas, and Gabrielle and Zabini, who were just finishing explaining what was going on.

As a group they hurried down the stairs to the ground floor. At the bottom of the stairs they paused, as those who had not realised about the heat fanned themselves. Then Ron spoke up.

"I'm going to try and force the door." He announced, and started towards the basement staircase.

"That's dumb. The door will have been magically locked. You won't be able to force it open, only Snape can do that." Zabini said, sounding almost smug.

"So?" Ron said, showing true Gryffindor stubborness. "I can still try, can't I? I'd rather be doing something that nothing. And may I remind you that it's your friend down there too, if Slytherin's even have friends." Ron added with contempt. Zabini looked outraged, then realised what Ron had meant and followed Ron down the stairs, where they started pulling and pushing at the door together, very obviously not getting anywhere but not wanting to be the first one to 'give up' on their friend.

Ginny sighed. "I'll go and get Brie." She hurried round the side of the house to find Brie still waiting. She brought her back just in time to hear Ranger say:

"You guys do know that if you actually manage to open the door, which, I might remind you, is magically impossible anyway, but if you did, the pressure you would remove from the ceiling would be enough to bring it crashing down, quite possibly on the heads of your dear friends." He said it matter-of-factly, as if it would make no difference to him whether Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy died, but was just making sure that they knew the facts before they did something which he considered extremely stupid.

Ron growled at Ranger's comment and stopped trying to bash the door down.

"I know what to do." Gabrielle said, grimly. "We're gonna have to call Snape. He can apparate here and he'll open the door and get them out. Or he'll at least know what to do." There was a general affirmative mumbling, no-one really wanted to get Snape in, he would probably do something horrendous like send them home, but it was that or lose Draco and Harry.

They all made their way out to the garden. Once they were clear of the house boundaries, they all stood in a circle.

"You do realise we are gonna get in so much trouble from the Statute of Secrecy for this, don't you." Ginny sighed.

"Ginny! I thought you cared about Harry! Come on, we've got to do this. They usually let you off if it's an emergency anyway." Ron said.

They all put their wands together, touching in the middle. Then Gabrielle said "Ok. On the count of three. One. Two. Thr..."

"STOP!" A shout from behind made them turn around. Emerging, coughing and soot-covered, were Harry and Malfoy. Ginny noticed that they had no shoes on, but that their feet were caked in what could have been oil, dirt or soot. There was blood and ash in Malfoy's hair and Harry's glasses were so encrusted with grime it was a wonder he could see anything.

Harry was the one who had shouted. He was half-dragging Malfoy, who appeared to be almost un-conscious.

"Harry!" Ginny cried, and rushed forward to hug him. She was much smaller than him now, but he fitted quite nicely over the top of her head.

"Draco!" Pansy cried, in a silly girly imitation of Ginny. Ginny turned around and glared at her. She glared back.

Blaise walked over to Malfoy and said "Welcome back, man." like Malfoy had been on holiday or something.

Then the group split in two, Ron, Ginny, Gabrielle and Brie gathering round Harry, hugging him and dusting him off, while Malfoy got 'welcomed' or whatever it was the Slytherins were doing. They were still hugging when over the fading roar of the fire they heard a scream. It came from the third floor of the house. They all looked up.

Hermione was hanging out of the open window. She was still dressed in her warm clothes, her hair was messed up and her eyes were unfocused. She seemed to be trying to...climb out of the window.

"Herm! No!" Harry yelled, running towards her as she wobbled on the tiny window ledge. She put up her hands to wipe her eyes clean...and fell.

"NOOO!" Harry bellowed, and put his arms out to catch her. But someone was already there. Someone had moved there as soon as they had looked up, and Hermione fell down, down, down...

Right into Draco Malfoy's arms.

---


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Hermione fell...right into Draco Malfoy's arms.

For a moment, he was shocked. Ginny saw it flash across his face, for a spilt second. Then he regained his composure and looked disgusted.

"Here." He said, handing Hermione to Harry. Ginny noticed that although he was supposed to dislike her, he was handling her gently, like one would a small child. He was also avoiding looking at her.

Hermione looked from Malfoy to Harry, and Harry glared at Malfoy. Malfoy shrugged and stalked off into the muggle night. Everyone watched him go.

Then Pansy gave a little huff and went after him. Harry carried Hermione over to Gabrielle and Ginny, said "Look after her." and disappeared after the other two.

Ron started after them, but Ginny put a hand out and stopped him. "Don't." She said. "You'll only make it worse." Ron looked baffled.

"Worse?" He said, frowning. "Why, what's wrong? What?" He said as he realised all of the girls were looking at him sceptically. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Ginny sighed. Boys could be so _dense_ sometimes. "It's a girl thing." She said, getting appriciating nods from the other girls. She smiled. "Just trust me, Ron."

Ron harrumphed, crossed his arms, and started to sulk.

Brie yawned. "Ay em reely quaite tired." She said, in a sleepy voice. "Ay am going back to bed. Ginny?" She looked expectantly at Ginny. Ginny shrugged.

"Sure. They could be, and might be, out there for hours. Why waste good sleep on them?" Mumbling agreement, everyone started to head back inside the house. Ginny turned at the door. There was no sign of Harry, Pansy or Malfoy. A slight pressure on her arm made her turn around, and enter the house, closing, but not locking the door behind her.

Pansy half-ran to keep Draco in sight. He was striding haughtily along the streets, muttering and kicking random walls and fences as he went along.

Pansy had had experience of Draco's moods before. It was one of the hazards of dating him. Some days, you could say anything and he would laugh it off, act as if nothing had happened. Other days the tiniest thing would send him into a furious rage, or a horrible mood. Pansy had got quite expert at predicting when the next mood or rage would occur, and could usually dampen the effects. But sometimes she could do nothing about it. In second year Draco had had a towering rage, frightening almost everyone in the Slytherin dungeons at the time. He had shouted point blank at a first year for a whole quarter of an hour before four sixth years had dragged Draco off to his dormitory, which they locked him in, and he subsequently wrecked. In fifth year he had been in an absolutely foul mood for a whole two weeks, during which He would scowl at everyone and everything, mutter under his breath half the time and swear under his breath the other half.

Having dated Draco for four of his six years so far at Hogwarts, Pansy was able to foretell when Draco had a rage coming. She would at such times steer him outside as far away from the castle as possible, if it was day, or lock him in the broom cupboard for half an hour, if it was night. This usually dealt with the problem. However, during his rages, he sometimes lashed out at Pansy or himself, and often she was forced to _Petrificus Totalus _him until he calmed down. But Pansy hated hurting Draco. He and she were like brother and sister, or as close as you can get to brother and sister when your parents had practically arranged for you to marry before you were born.

The times after the rages were the worst. Draco would break down, shaking and limp on the floor. He never cried, this, she knew, having been a habit beaten out of Draco at a young age. But he would lie, inert and un-speaking, often for far longer than the rage had lasted. During these times it was up to Pansy to hold him, to comfort and cuddle him and hold him close. She really cared for Draco, and seeing him like this was often too much for her to bear. Many times she had cried over him, until her tears fell on his face and she could almost believe he was crying, that he was showing the most common emotion known to humankind; sadness. For Draco never cried. Even the things which troubled him most never made him cry, instead provoking anger, frustration, cold fury, or worst of all, guilt.

Draco believed he was the guilty one, that he deserved the punishments that Lucius gave to him, that was why he never fought back, never argued or disagreed. Pansy would never forget the first time she was invited to Malfoy Manor as a partner to Draco, not as the daughter of a friend of the family. She would never forget how Lucius talked to Draco, like he was unworthy, like he was scum, like he deserved to be working alongside the house elf. And she would never forget the way in which through all of the criticism Draco simply looked blank, not quite ignoring Lucius, but not paying attention either, as if these words had been spoken many time before.

She saw ahead that Draco had stopped, he was sitting on one of the stone benches in the park. He had his face in his hands and his back was shaking. Pansy stopped too and gazed at him for a while. She knew that if he took his face out of his hands, his eyes would be dry. No tears ever fell from him. These times, when he let himself shake, or had no control over the shakings, were the only time he ever showed weakness. He had told Pansy before that he hated himself for these times, that he hated showing weakness, because he could not get to do the things he had to do by showing weakness, he could not serve his father and the Dark Lord by being weak.

Pansy was the only one he willingly let see his weak times. And so she went forwards and put her arms around him. He sagged under her, but then jumped up and spun around.

"Don't touch me!" He spat. "You keep away from me!" His eyes were wild and bloodshot, his hair ash coloured from the smoke of the fire, blood coloured from his wound, framing his face.

"Draco... what's wrong?" Pansy said. "You never had a problem with me hugging you before." She stepped forward, but he stepped back.

"That was then." He said, voice wobbling. "This is now." He took a deep breath. "Pansy I can't see you any more."

The world span. Something far away yowled. The trees rustled overhead. But all Pansy could think of was what Draco had said.

"I'm sorry Pansy." He whispered, and turned away, walking back the way he had come. Pansy watched his retreating back.

_Wait... _She thought. _Wait...did he just DUMP me?_

Draco Malfoy!" She screeched. Draco halted in his tracks and turned around, slowly. "Come back here and tell me what you mean!" She yelled.

Draco turned around again and folded his arms. "I said I can't see you any more. If you have problems understanding that Pansy then you're not as smart as I took you for."

"I know what you meant!" Pansy said scornfully. "I wanted to know why! There has to be a reason, you don't just break a four year relationship because of nothing. What is it? Have you met someone else? Is that it? Tell me!" She finished, and stood glaring at him. To her annoyance he simply laughed.

"Think of it as that if you like Pansy." His voice took on a more serious note. "I can't tell you exact details, but lets just say that I don't need you anymore." He smirked, and Pansy felt like hitting him.

"Yes you do! You do need me! Who else will let you hit them when you're in one of your rages? Huh? Who else is willing to sit with you when you go all stiff and unspeaking? Who? And..." She paused for effect. "Who else would stick by you in your darkest hour?"

Draco's face twitched. She knew he was thinking back to that fateful night, when she had proved to him that she valued him above everything else, even life itself.

Slowly, his shoulders sagged. She could see the fizz and determination seep out of him as he wilted.

"You...You're right Pansy. I do need you." His eyes met hers, and she saw those frozen rings of mercury filled with emotion. And yet those eyes were dry. "I'm sorry." Draco said, voice cracked with raw emotion, unable to show it. "I'm sorry." He repeated, and fell forward into her arms.

As they embraced, Pansy felt Draco's cold fingers snake up into her hair. He stroked her hair, and she put her mouth to his. They kissed, passionate and forgiving and loving. But Pansy could taste things that were not Draco in his mouth. She tasted blood and Firewhiskey and ash. She broke the kiss and stared up at Draco.

"Draco." She asked. "How did you get out of the room? The door was locked."

He sighed. "A chunk of the ceiling fell down, almost on top of Potter. It made a hole in the ceiling, and through it was the living room. I stood on the chunk of ceiling and hoisted Potter, then he pulled me up. And by the way, the fire will be out by the time we get back. It was running out of things to burn as we left it."

"Oh good. Are you hurt at all?"

"Potter punched me in the face because I broke his camera, thats where the blood is from. Apart from that, my pyjamas are just a little bit singed." He smiled down at her. She smiled back.

"I love you." She said, and kissed him again.

"I love you too." She heard him mumble into her mouth.

---

Harry watched from the shadow of one of the trees as the two Slytherins kissed.

He had reached the clearing just as he heard Pansy say "Who else would stick by you in your darkest hour." And had still been puzzling over this when Pansy and Malfoy kissed. The shock of seeing two of his worst enemies show such passion towards each other was considerable.

When Harry thought about it, he realised that until recently he had believed Slytherins unable to show any kind of passion for another person, not friendship, nor love. When Pansy and Malfoy exchanged declerations of love, Harry had almost gasped, and had sat down with a bump. Thankfully the two were too engrossed in each other to hear.

Harry willed for the two to stop the public displays of affection. But then he remembered that they weren't actually in public, that if he hadn't sneaked after them to, to what, _spy _on them? Then they would be completely alone, and obviously believed themselves to be as such.

He tried to turn his head away, to not look at this sight which disturbed him and angered him. But his eyes stayed fixed upon the kissing Slytherins, he could not look away, and although it was deeply disturbing and traumatising, it was also mezmerizing.

With a gasp they broke apart. Pansy was glowing with happiness and love, Malfoy smiling fondly at her.

"We should head back." Malfoy said. "We've got an inspection by Professor Snape tomorrow and I need to fix our room."

Pansy sighed and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her.

"If you must go, then I suppose you must." Pansy said, ruefully. "I think I'm gonna stay and look at the moon for a while, okay?"

"Okay." Malfoy said, and Pansy lifted her head up and gave him a kiss.

"'Night Draco." She said.

"Goodnight Pansy." Malfoy said. "If you're not back in ten minutes I'm going to come and get you, okay?"

"Okay." Pansy replied and Malfoy, with one last hug, let her go and walked back away from the clearing towards the houses. Pansy sat on the bench and looked up.

Harry stepped out from behind the bushes.

"Hey Pansy." He said.

Pansy spun round. "Oh! It's...you." She said, surprised. "What are you...how long have you been there?"

"Long enough." Harry replied grimly. Pansy had the grace to look embarrassed.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. But it's true. I do love him." She looked pleadingly into Harry's eyes. "Please don't be angry."

"Angry?" Harry snorted. "I just saw the girl who...I don't know...did something stupid with not four days ago kissing another guy, telling him she loved him. Why on earth would I be angry?"

Pansy's eyes filled with tears at his sarcasm. "Please Potter...Harry! Please Harry, I do care about you, but he's...he's Draco! You don't understand. We were meant for each other, we belong together. Its like we've had an arranged marriage, in every sense of the phrase except the writing on paper. We grew up together. Our parents always assumed we'd be together. We can see things in each other no-one else can. You don't understand!"

Harry felt himself in turmoil inside. He couldnt tell what he felt for Pansy, he had never had such a mixture of emotions surrounding one person before. In disgust he turned away, and felt her hand on his arm.

Her slim fingers had more power over him that a herd of wild horses. With gentle pressure, Pansy turned him around. "Harry. Please try to at least accept that what we had was...nothing. Like you said, something stupid. A mistake. In everyone else's eyes, it never happened. And though we must face in our hearts that it did, we must also understand that it shouldn't have."

Wrenching himself away from her was as hard as tearing Harry's heart out, and yet it did so. "I don't care what happened, Pansy. You think I'm coming to you because I want you back? Rubbish! I came here because I was...worried about...about Malfoy. he was unconscious earlier and I was wondering if he was alright yet. And Pansy..." He leaned in close to Pansy's ear, so that she could fell his hot breath on her skin.

"...I will cut off my hand before I reach for you again." He whispered it lightly, and yet felt Pansy tense and then sag next to him, felt her collapse onto the bench.

And though every step was a stamp with spiked boots on his heart, he walked away.

---

Draco lay in bed, thinking. Potter snored next to him. Merlin, that boy snored loud. He had come in a few minutes after Draco, flushed and angry. He had helped Draco set their destroyed room straight in complete and utter silence. Draco had been deep in thought himself, and had hardly noticed, only occuring to him when they had each lain down to bed on the floor of the sitting room.

Pansy had come in a few minutes after Potter. She had been red-eyed, tired and grouchy. With a small smile, she had told him she was asleep on her feet, and he had carried her bridal-style up to her room.

Thinking of Pansy got him thinking about what she had said to him in the forest. Now, he couldnt believe he had been about to break up with her. What had he been thinking. He had forgotten all about the incident in the summer holidays.

The incident...

_Draco sat in bed, arms round his knees. His head ached, his back sent sharp stabbing needles of pain into him every time he moved and his whole arm felt like it was on fire. He gritted his teeth against the pain, and put his head on his knees. _

_So. Now he was truly a follower of the Dark Lord. The mark on his forearm proved that. It was the night after he had been taken to the Dark Lord's keep, to become a Death Eater. It had been an interesting trip._

_They had traveled there on a thestral. Draco could see thestrals, thanks to being forced to watch a muggle die shortly before the trip. Being able to see thestrals seemed to be important to being a follower of the Dark Lord._

_When they had reached the keep Draco had been shocked at the size of it. It wasn't big. Not at all. In fact, it was simply a small fort with two stories and a high wall round that, with a moat. What had been impressive was the darkness of the castle. It emanated a sickly, slimy feel that made the air damp and horrible on the skin._

_But what had impressed Draco the most had been what he saw once he had landed in front of the gates. There, riding on massive thestrals with huge black manes, feet the size of dinner plates, were two dementors. They were scary enough. If that was not enough then just inside the gates was a giant. He had been lying across the entrance to the fort but at the sight of Lucius and Drcao he had gotten up and done a kind of half-hearted salute. Draco had tripped after his father, into the fort._

_Surprisingly, when they reached a staircase, they went down instead of up. When they reached the bottom of the long flight of stairs Draco caught sight of a tapestry of a map on the wall. It showed the castle, and below it a set of what could have been rabbit warrens, there were so many tunnels. Then Draco realised that the main bulk of the keep was in fact below ground._

_Lucius had led Draco to a long low room, with blood red walls and a ceiling painted with a seething mass of black shapes. After watching them for a while Draco had realised it was a surprisingly realistic picture of dementors. With a jolt he felt low in his stomach he realised that there were hundreds. Thousands even._

_He had torn his gaze away from the ceiling when he had realised there was someone else in the room. They were sitting in the end of the room, in a swivel chair, which had a high back. It was one of those chairs that people with fluffy white cats sit in, one of those chairs that from which world conquering plans were made and executed._

_Sitting in in was the Dark Lord. He looked just as Draco had imagined him too, from the description given by Potter at the end of fourth year. Pale, face like a snake, red gleaming eyes. Eyes that were fixed on him._

_Lucius nudged Draco forwards, and he staggered right up to the Dark Lord. He was tall, taller that Draco. Red eyes with slits as pupils examined every inch of Draco's body, then came to rest on his eyes. Unable to stand the gaze, Draco looked down._

_But a burning cold on his chin forced his face upwards. He was looking directly into the Dark Lord's face, into his eyes. How long they stayed like that Draco didnt know, becaus every second was agony. Not physical pain, he could handle that. This agony was mental, like having his thoughts and feelings put through a sieve. Every small inclination, every vague thought was laid bare and transfered to the Dark Lord._

_When the Dark Lord took his hand away from Draco's face, the icy pressure finally receeding, Draco slumped to the ground. He felt empty, drained. He could not muster a single thought or feeling. The Dark Lord had taken them all. All he knew were the flagstones beneath his back, and the cold, hissing voice of the Drak Lord conversing with his father._

_"Well Lucius, what an interesting son you have. Mind as sharp as a sword. Not just knowleadgeable, intelligent too."_

_"Do you approve, my Lord?"_

_"He is weak. I sense weaknesses in him. Thoughts, feelings that do not belong there. Well now, I wonder where he knew that from."_

_"Might I see, my Lord?"_

_"Very well, Lucius. Here, I have a Pensieve. Wait...there."_

_"Merlin's beard! My Lord, I had no idea...please forgive my son. I will endeavour to quash these thoughts, however they got there."_

_"See that you do. A Death Eater cannot have these feelings. They are weaknesses. Destroy them."  
_

_"Yes, yes my Lord. I can do it now, if you wish?"_

_"No. I must mark him now, before your efforts to remove these thoughts affect his mind. Stand him up._

_Draco felt the strong but cold hands of his father lift him up and place him on his feet. His head lolled, but Lucius forced it upright. Through swimming eyes he saw the Dark Lord's face just inches away from his own, but he was too weak to do anything about it._

_"Turn his arm over, Lucius." _

_Draco felt his arm being turned over, so that the forearm was facing upwards_

_The Dark Lord placed his hand on Draco's forearm, and then gripped it tightly._

_There were no words to describe it. The pain was so complete, so utter, so profound, that it blew Draco's mind away. The previous thought removal meant that the whole of Draco's mind was empty, waiting to be filled. And so the Dark Lord filled it with pain. It felt to Draco like pain was the only thing he'd ever known. His memories were eaten up by the pain. His hair stood on end. His eyes bulged, his voice had a mind of its own, spewing out long strings of words in unintelligible languages. The world was simple white light, blinding his eyes. Now the light was fading, becoming darker and darker, greying, then running through all the shades of black until it reached a black so black that it sucked in light. And in the middle of that blackness was a pair of black eyes. They had fire and brimstone in them. Those eyes contained hell._

_"Repeat, son of darkness. I am a Death Eater." The eyes said, without actually making a sound. The words simply arrived in his head without bothering to go through the ears._

_"I am a Death Eater." Draco droned._

_"Repeat, heir of power. I obey Lord Voldemort."_

_"I obey Lord Voldemort."_

_"Repeat, child of purest blood. My sole aim is to serve the Dark Lord."  
_

_"My sole aim is to serve the Dark Lord."  
_

_"Repeat, man of fate. The Dark Lord's enemies are my enemies and I must destroy them."  
_

_"The Dark Lord's enemies are my enemies and I must destroy them."_

_"Repeat, prince of ice. I and my destiny belong to the Dark Lord, to do with as he pleases."  
_

_"I and my destiny belong to the Dark Lord, to do with as he pleases."_

_The eyes held his gaze for a few more moments, then blinked._

_Suddenly the world came back into focus. Draco was lying on his bed at Malfoy Manor. He was still in his travelling robes. Sitting in his armchair by the fire was his father. Lucius had a drink in one hand and his wand in the other._

_"Hello Draco." He said. His voice was soft, but held a unspoken threat._

_"Hello Father." Draco said warily. He tried to sit up on his bed but his head spasmed and he lay back down, gritting his teeth against the pain._

_"Yes Draco, your head will hurt. The Dark Lord replaced all your memories, and all your thoughts and feelings. Your head may feel a little full." It was true, Draco felt like his head might burst with pressure from the inside._

_"But you see Draco, some of the thoughts and feelings do not belong in there. They are weak, creating weaknesses which the Dark Lord cannot allow. Do you wish to be weak Draco?"_

_"No Father, but..."_

_"No. I must remove them. But, as you proved yourself strongly resistent to memory charms, we shall have to try an alternative method." With a flick of his wand, Draco was lying on a stretcher. Lucius manourvered his wand and floated Draco down the stairs, through the long corridors, down to the dungeons. Draco thought he saw his mother out of the corner of his eye on the way down, but he was propelled on and he lost sight of her._

_They arrived at a small, oblong room with a shelf of nasty looking potions at one end and a marble rectangle set into the wall at the other end. The marble slab was roughly man-sized and had emerald studded handcuffs hanging either side of it. There was an iron ring set in the floor below it._

_Lucius set his drink down on a table and then, using his wand Lucius positioned Draco on the marble slab, handcuffing him and tying his feet to the iron ring with light, strong chains. Any movement from Draco was accompanied by a searing bout of pain across his forehead, so he was forced to just stand there and let Lucius tie him up._

_When Draco was secure Lucius went to the other end of the room and selected one of the bottles. He opened it, took a sniff and recoiled. Then he smiled._

_"Now then." He said. "We can start removing the impurities in your mind."_


End file.
